


Family Dan

by hawaiigal52



Category: Ugly Betty
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-10-16
Updated: 2013-11-24
Packaged: 2017-12-29 13:56:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 13
Words: 29,865
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1006239
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hawaiigal52/pseuds/hawaiigal52
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Family Dan<br/>Chapter 1:   The Holiday Bustle</p><p>Originally posted on Fanfic just after Christmas, 2012</p><p>A/N: I know it’s not Christmas, but I love Nick Cage, Tea Leoni, Don Cheadle and Jeremy Piven and  it’s definitely one of my favorites, and I haven’t been able to get it out of my mind, thinking how well it would translate for Detty. I’m not even going to set it up for you. I’m just going to let the characters speak for themselves. I’m sure you’ll get the idea, especially if you’ve seen the film.</p><p>Disclaimer: I don’t own Ugly Betty or The Family Man! (wish I did!) Later on throughout this story I have tried to incorporate some of the film's actual dialogue here when it fits my Detty purposes!</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

JFK Airport, April 2010…

Daniel hurries out of his town car and rushes to security, having purchased a ticket to New Jersey just so he could get through to Betty’s gate. He had tried to get a seat on her flight, but it was booked solid, and the next flight to London wasn’t until six hours later.  
He impatiently slipped back into his shoes and grabbed his watch and cell phone from the bin. Flying commercial was such a pain in the ass, he thought, willing the woman in front of him in line with three small children to hurry up already.  
He had the gate number and he ran as soon as the line cleared, almost knocking over an old man getting onto a motorized cart, “Sorry!” he mumbled as he ran past, seeing Betty, getting up to stand on line for boarding.  
“BETTY! Stop! Don’t leave!” He yelled out as he made his way to her, then tried to catch his breath long enough to plead his case.  
She looked up, puzzled, but clearly happy to see him, “Daniel! You came to see me off? I’m so glad. I was afraid I was never going to see you again. Are you okay?”  
He blew out a breath, leaning over to try and recover from his mad rush to catch her. He held up a finger, “Hang on, I need to…uh…breathe. Wow, I’m outta shape!” After a few seconds of deep breaths, he looked up and smiled at her.  
God she was beautiful, he thought! In her pretty red coat and her little British style beret (she even matched, he thought), and she had new clear glasses with stylish black on the sides, that showed her face and beautiful brown eyes better than her old red ones.  
“Daniel, it was so sweet of you to see me off like this, but…I’m sorry, their boarding my flight now. I’ve got to go.”  
“No, no you don’t, Betty. You, you can’t go.”  
“I can’t? Daniel, seriously, you don’t really need me at Mode. I hope you didn’t come to try and offer me another raise. It’s really flattering that you think so highly of my work, but believe me, you can replace me.  
I am going to miss you, though. I wish you could have made it to my farewell party. I…really missed you not being there.” She looked at him sadly, but without a hint of anger, he realized. How did she do that? He felt an instant wave of regret for not simply coming to wish her well, to say goodbye.  
But he couldn’t. He couldn’t wish her well, because he didn’t want her to leave him behind. He couldn’t say goodbye, because he still was in shock. He didn’t even know how he could possibly continue without her sweet face, brightening up his life.  
So he had done what he often did, sulk in his room, in his bathrobe of shame he had worn after the Sofia fiasco. He had sat in a depressed state of denial and utter depression that his Betty had dared to not only consider but accept a job half way around the world from Mode, from HIM!  
Until, the morning he had actually looked at one of the many messages from his mother that he had not been answering and saw that her flight was leaving TODAY! He called Bobby (he knew Hilda would probably have yelled at him and he didn’t have time for that now), and got Betty’s flight information.  
Now, she stood before him. It was upon him to try and get her to stay. And he couldn’t honestly think of one good reason why she should. He knew she was bored and dissatisfied working in a field she had no passion for, that she had probably only stayed as long as she had out of some sense of loyalty to him, in fact.  
She was too good to remain even an editor at a fashion magazine when she had so much more to offer, so much potential. He knew it and he couldn’t hold her back. But still…he had to let her know how he felt about her, right?  
Which was…tough. Impossible, in fact. What could he say? (in the five, or at most ten minutes he had to come up with something). Part of him knew this was a fool’s errand he had come on, rushing to the airport to see her. For what, though? What had he hoped to do by coming? Try and beg her to stay? Fly along with her? Then what?  
He could go to Paris, see Alexis and DJ, perhaps, but eventually, he would have to come back here to New York, and then he would still be lost and alone. Now he questioned himself for even coming at all. But he knew he couldn’t just let her leave without seeing her at least one more time.  
He shoved his hands in his pockets. Why of all times in his life, should he turn into some tongue tied schoolboy? How did she always manage to do this to him? It seemed that, with Betty, he could never summon the courage to get past their usual friendly banter.  
“Betty. I…I’m going to miss you. I wish there was some way we could still see each other. Mode isn’t going to seem the same without you. Hell, New York isn’t going to be the same. I really don’t know how…”  
She put her hand on his, seeing he was starting to get choked up a bit. “Daniel. I…I’m going to miss you, too. As excited as I am about the job, and living in London, a part of me wishes I could stay here, too. I’m going to really miss my family and everyone at Mode and…mainly, you. You’re my best friend in the whole world, Daniel. Thank you for coming to say goodbye. It means so much to me.”  
She hugged him, closing her eyes and trying unsuccessfully to hold back the tears. “I love you, Daniel.” She whispered into his ear. Then, in a flash, she was gone. The line had disappeared and she hurried to get on board her plane.  
He stood, in a daze. His feet frozen in place and his eyes now glossy with emotion. He didn’t just hear her say that, did he? His heart started pounding and his throat went dry. What should he do? He couldn’t run onto the plane, could he? No, of course not, they’d think he was a terrorist or something and probably Taser him!  
His mind raced in a dozen possible scenarios. He could go book the next flight to London or even try and plead with the pilot for Meade Publications private jet to whisk him there and be waiting for her or close behind. Then what? He kept coming back to those two stupid words. He wanted to be romantic, be spontaneous, maybe he even thought of trying to sweep her off her feet, but how?  
It wasn’t nearly as easy as they made it seem in the movies. He had run after her and caught up to her and now he still stood here, empty handed, his heart in his throat, trying to figure out what to do. She said she loved him. That made him smile. He could follow her to London and tell her he loved her, too. But inevitably he would be faced with those same damn two words again. Then what?  
Did he expect her to give up her job and follow him back to New York? Would they start a whirlwind romance in London, perhaps? He couldn’t be gone indefinitely. He’d have to eventually come back to Mode, though. Back to his work. It was his legacy. The company his father left him. He couldn’t just leave it all; to go running after his former assistant simply because he was going to miss her, could he? It was ridiculous.  
So, reluctantly, he started to leave. As he turned back he saw Betty running towards him. He grinned and grabbed her, hugging her as if he would never see her again, “Daniel, I can’t do this, I can’t leave you. It’s too hard. I can’t believe you came here to stop me.”  
“I love you, too, Betty. Please don’t leave me. I’m sorry I couldn’t tell you before now. I’m such an idiot! But, I do. I love you. I..” He laughed, as she started smothering his face with kisses.  
He felt the sudden intensity of his emotions overwhelm him as he held her face in his hands and looked into her eyes, then kissed her with all the passion and love that he had been denying for so long now.

 

A/N: I just realized, this would probably make a nice little one-shot to end things here, but you know I’m not that nice. Sorry, but if you know the movie, you know, there’s a very strange, interesting time ahead for Dan the man! Who said the course of true love runs smooth?


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chapter 2: The Road Not Taken
> 
> A/N: I’m always influenced by really amazing films and this one is excellent Besides being at its core a ‘fish out of water’ story, it is also like a rom/com updated version of ‘It’s A Wonderful Life’, in a small way (I’m not claiming it’s quite THAT caliber of a movie, but it’s very good on its own merits). It’s one of those films that makes you stop and think-which I always love. 
> 
> Disclaimer: As always, I have no claims to Ugly Betty, or its’ amazing characters, or to any part of The Family Man. This is for entertainment purposes only.

Christmas Eve, 2015, Daniel Meade’s Townhouse, Manhattan…

A beautiful blonde, tall and leggy dresses and Daniel leans back in bed, smiling seductively. “You’re an amazing lover, Jennifer. You should be giving motivational seminars.”  
“So are you, Daniel.”  
“I’d definitely like to do this again. What are your plans later?”  
She laughs, “Seriously? It’s Christmas Eve, remember?”  
He shrugs, and reaches for his white Gucci shirt, tossed on the chaise by his bed, “So, we’ll pour egg nog on each other later, baby.”  
She shakes her head, “Sorry, baby, I’m catching the noon train to New Jersey to see my family later.”   
Daniel makes a face, “Jersey? You have my condolences.”  
She stops, and looks back at him as she continues to dress. She sees he’s smirking, and looking at her hungrily. She sighs, “I’ll see if I can sneak away in the morning, maybe.”  
He smiles, and reaches out for her, giving her a deep kiss. “I’ll get the egg nog and some mistletoe and let you put it anywhere you want.”  
She rolls her eyes, and laughs as she puts on her coat to leave, “Merry Christmas, Daniel. It was nice meeting you.”  
“Happy Hannukah! See you in the morning.” He smiles confidently, knowing she’ll come.  
As she is getting into the elevator, she hears Beatles music playing loudly from Daniel’s townhouse, Hey Jude.   
He is singing along happily as he goes into his large, well-appointed closet and selects a black Dolce suit, and after briefly hesitating over a red one, he selects one of his signature Hermes purple ties, and continues to sing along, waving his arms as if conducting the music and when appropriate, pretending to play piano, while in his black silk boxers.  
Later, in the elevator, he is still humming to himself, but stops when an older but attractive woman, well-dressed and holding a miniature dachshund in a dog carrier enters. “Hello, Daniel. You don’t have to stop singing on my account.”  
He smiles, pretending to flirt, “I’m just shy around you. Laura, tell me, when are you going to leave that corpse you’re married to and run away with me?”  
She smiles slyly, looking him up and down, as Daniel pets her dog. “You could never satisfy me like he does, Daniel. Merry Christmas.” She gets off the elevator and the doorman gets her town car.  
Daniel’s Ferrari is driven up for him and the valet driver hands him the keys, “I just changed the windshield wipers like you asked, Mr. Meade.”  
“Thanks, Jason. Take care.” He grins, as he sits in the luxurious leather seats and switches on Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony, and adjusts his mirror before speeding off.   
Once he arrives at work, he is met by Wilhelmina. She looks less much less polished than in her glory days at Mode.   
She is smiling, but looks at Daniel, almost nervously. “There you are; Daniel. We’re sort of holding our breaths here for the new cover. The models are all ready and waiting, it is Christmas Eve.”  
He sees everyone, gathered around the conference table, waiting for him and smiles, “Was that tonight?” They all laugh, somewhat uncomfortably, wondering what he has in mind.  
“We need to finish this shoot and I’ll babysit the advertisers on the new account I just landed…Wilhelmina? A penny for your thoughts.” She is trying to text under the table, not really listening to Daniel.  
She smiles, almost sweetly holding up her phone, “Sorry, Connor and the kids are waiting to open one present before he puts them to bed.”  
“Right. Charming Hallmark moment, I’m sure. Listen, I think we all need to dig in and finish this issue before we can rest on our laurels. Once we do our jobs, we can all dance on the table tops for all I care.   
Willi, you are supposed to be the Editor-in-chief of this magazine. Do you have any notes for me? I still have twenty-five other magazine editors to check in on today. Is Marc at least on top of this?”  
“Yes, of course, Daniel. He’s got everything under control.”  
“Good. I’d hate to see your Creative Director mess things up at this late stage in the game because he was out finishing up his Christmas shopping.”  
“No, he’s at the photo shoot as we speak, overseeing it. I expect to hear from him any moment.”  
“Great! So, if Mode’s ready to ship out by the end of the day, I guess I’ll make sure the rest of Meade Publications are doing as well. Goodnight, everybody! Uh, Merry Christmas!”  
“Merry Christmas, Mr. Meade!” several staffers shot back. Many looked somewhat glum, realizing their holiday plans were at a standstill.   
Wilhelmina tries to rally her troops as soon as Daniel leaves, “It’s fine, everyone. Simply do what you’ve been asked, and we should all get out of here in a few hours, and at least still have a bit of Christmas left with our families.” They all nod in agreement, eager to finish up as quickly as possible.  
Daniel, meanwhile, works his way through several other of Meade’s smaller publications, sometimes doing conference calls, other times, simply handling the necessary communications via e-mail or phone call to the various editors.   
Finally, after several hours, Amanda enters. She is older, but still lovely and is obviously VERY pregnant. “Hey, Daniel. Here are your messages. Did you have fun, keeping everyone at your beck and call on Christmas, Mr. Scrooge?”  
“Please, Amanda. You know I had no choice. Mode has to go out, on time, regardless of what day of the year it is. It’s not my fault the original concept had to get scrapped at the last minute because of that crazy photographer’s inability to do his job!   
Besides, if we continue doing as well as we have been, we can all celebrate on December twenty-sixth! With some pretty hefty bonuses, I might add.”   
He smiles, looking at her belly and puts his hand on it, “Is she kicking again?”  
She nods, wearily, “All the time. I already told you, though. Tyler wants a boy. So he refuses to concede that it might actually be a girl. He said we have to constantly refer to her as Tyler, Jr.”  
Daniel shakes his head and grins, “Fine. How is little Tyler, Jr. doing today? Is he letting you get any sleep?”  
She sits down carefully, “Now and then. When HE’s not dancing on my bladder and making me pee ten times a night.”  
He makes a face, “Sounds great! Good luck with that. Hey, what’s this?” he waves one of the messages in her face.  
She shrugs. “You can read my writing, Daniel. It’s from Betty’s assistant in London. She called, trying to reach you. Said it was important.”  
He collapses onto his Eames chair, looking carefully at the message. “Her assistant, huh?”  
She nods, “Yep. You know what a big shot she is, now, Daniel. She’s been practically running things at Dunne for the past two years, since the old man had his stroke.”  
He nods, quietly, a sad look on his features, “Yeah. I heard. I just… haven’t talked to her since. You know.”  
“Since you let her get back on the plane and leave for London five years ago? Yeah, I’ve heard this sad story many times when you were drunk, Daniel. Stop, I’m getting all misty here.   
You made your choice. We all live with the consequences of our actions. I’d say you’ve both done pretty well for yourselves, regardless.”  
He balls up the message and shoots it into the waste can from several feet away, smiling.  
She furrows her brows, “You’re not even going to call her to see what she wants?”  
He shakes his head, “I took another road. I’m sure she’s happier without me, anyway. No sense in a lot of ‘what if’s’!”  
She struggles to get up, and he helps her. “Well, if you’ll excuse me, boss, I’m going to pee, again! Then, I’m going home. Should I tell your mother and brother you’re coming over for dinner sometime tomorrow or not?”  
He smiles, “I’ll try to drop in later tomorrow night, maybe. I’ve uh, got some last minute shopping to do.”  
“On Christmas DAY? What’s her name?”  
He furrows his brow, trying to remember, “I want to say it starts with a J. Julie, maybe?”  
She shakes her head, “Fine, Daniel. Come as soon as you can.”   
“Well, that’s no fun.” He smiles.  
She makes a face, and waddles to the door, then turns, “You know, even your jokes get sadder as you get older, Daniel.”  
“Take care of yourself, Amanda. Goodnight.”  
“Merry Christmas, Daniel!”  
He is reading his mail and going through emails on his laptop already as she’s leaving, but looks up and nods, “Uh-huh. Oh, yeah. You, too!”  
Hours later, Daniel is still working. He notices it’s eleven and he finally leaves, telling the security guard he’s going to walk and to have his car taken home.   
He decides to stop at a convenience store, to get some egg nog. He asks an employee if they have mistletoe and is given a strange look. “Never mind.”   
He goes to stand in line and hears a young black man in his thirties arguing with the store owner over a lottery ticket he says is a winner.   
“Just look at the ticket, man! Six, fourteen, eighteen, forty-eight, right there! That’s five hundred and sixty-four dollars! Merry Christmas and shit!”  
The owner continues to argue with the man, “You drew those lines in with a pencil Take your fake ticket and get out of here before I call the cops, mister!”  
“What the hell are you talking about? You’re not even looking at the ticket, you’re looking at me!” He pulls out a thirty-eight from his pocket.   
A young woman with a baby in store screams. Daniel instinctively puts his arm out to her and nods for her to leave quickly. She runs out of the store.   
The young man puts the gun to Daniel’s head. He thinks for a second, then says, trying to stay calm, holding out his hand, “Let me see the ticket.”  
“Do you want to die?”  
“Not particularly.”  
The man laughs, “Stupid white man in a five thousand dollar suit gets killed trying to be a hero, news at eleven. This ain’t your business, Mister big shot.”  
Daniel sees the two patrons still in the store, hiding in the back, an elderly couple, looking scared to death. He nods, “Look, business is business. I buy your ticket for five hundred dollars, take it to a store where the guy behind the counter doesn’t have a death wish and make myself a quick sixty-four dollars.” He glares at the store owner.  
The man smiles, and lowers his gun, shaking his head in respect at Daniel, “Damn, you are the real thing.”   
He smiles and puts the gun back in his pocket and tells him, “C’mon, Dan, let’s get out of here.”   
As Daniel and the young man are walking down the street, he turns to him, puzzled, and asks, “You called me Dan before. How did you know my name is Daniel?”  
He shrugs, “I call every rich white guy Dan the man or Stan the man or some shit.”   
Daniel nods, “So, what’s your name?”  
He simply glares at Daniel, who shakes his head, reaching in his wallet, “Sorry. You don’t have to tell me. I’m not calling the cops, though. Here. Five hundred. As promised. A deal’s a deal.”  
The man takes the money from Daniel and smiles, “Nice doing business with you, Dan.” He shakes his hand again, “You can call me Cash.”  
“Cash? Like money?”  
He nods, “Yep. You seemed pretty sure of yourself back there. How did you know I wouldn’t blow your brains all over that fancy suit of yours, Dan the man?”  
Daniel looks at Cash, “You seemed too smart to do something so stupid. There are things you can’t go back and undo in your life, you know? You know, you really shouldn’t carry that gun around, Cash. You might do something you regret, something you can’t change.”  
The young man looks at Daniel, seriously, “Yeah. Regret is a powerful thing. It can really change you if you let it.”  
Daniel smiles, thinking he has done a very good thing and he feels good about this. “Yes, it can. I’m sure whatever hardships you’ve faced will only make you stronger in the long run, though, you know?”  
Cash stops and bends over, laughing hysterically. Daniel looks at him, puzzled, “What’s so funny? I’m serious.”  
Cash shakes his head, still laughing, “You think you need to save me? That’s hilarious, man!”  
“I’m just saying, you don’t want to live your life with regrets. There are programs out there. I’m sure it wouldn’t be easy, but you’re still young. You’ve got your whole life ahead of you. You can always change the path you’re on.”  
Cash looked at him, and smiled again, patting Daniel on the shoulder. “Truer words were never spoken. Just remember, you brought this on yourself.” He walks away, still laughing.

 

A/N: My one big regret (hmmm…interesting choice of words) is that for the purposes of this story, it’s a sad, but true fact that after Betty got back on the plane, Daniel back slid into his old, womanizing ways. But, life is all about change and things are about to change drastically for ‘Dan’ in a HUGE way, so have faith!


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3: ‘This is not my beautiful wife!’  
Daniel stirred, feeling at once he was not alone. He blinked, then squinted, looking carefully at the dark-haired beauty sleeping next to him.   
Was that “Betty?” She moaned and smiled on seeing him, “Hey, handsome! You’re up, huh?”  
A smile slowly spread across his face, as it registered he was in bed with Betty Suarez. What had happened last night? Why didn’t he remember anything, he thought?   
Sleeping with Betty should be high on his list of things he had always wanted and never got, so why on earth wouldn’t he be able to remember?  
He touched her arm and she giggled. He was suddenly struck with what a beautiful woman she had become. He really didn’t understand how she could look at him with such love in her eyes. It made his stomach knot. He wanted her so badly. How did she do it, though?   
It had been five years since he had seen her last (obviously, other than running into her last night when he had apparently gotten very drunk and slept with her).   
He had left her standing at the airport back then, telling her she should go ahead and get on her flight, he didn’t want to be the cause for her regretting turning down the job at Dunne, and now…here she was, more gorgeous than he would have ever imagined.   
Looking at him with more love than he deserved for how he had acted, once she got back on that plane. He had second-guessed their love, chickened out and talked himself out of doing anything more than his initial gesture of following her to the airport that day.  
How COULD she forgive him and agree to sleep with him now? He knew she was a far more forgiving person than he was, that was for certain. He touched her cheek, softly, “Betty. Hey. How have you been, anyway?”  
She looked at him strangely, “I’ve been fine, baby. Uh, Dan, why are you looking at me like I’m an alien? Merry Christmas, honey.” She kissed him. To him, it was a kiss that surprised him.   
She seemed to be familiar, somehow very comfortable with kissing him. Not that there wasn’t passion involved, there definitely was, but it was also something much deeper, something he didn’t recognize.  
He slid his arm around her waist and deepened the kiss, making it clear where he intended this to lead. She blushed, and giggled at his touch. “Dan, baby, we aren’t going to have time for this, you know…”  
“Betty, why do you keep calling me Dan? You know I’ve always preferred Daniel.”  
She chuckled, “Uh, since when? Five years ago, maybe. Okay, fine, Daniel, darling. As hot as you are making me here, you know there’s no way in the world, even on your fastest day, we’re going to have time for anything today, babe. You’re sweet for trying, though. I love you, baby.”  
“I uh…love you, too, Betty. But why aren’t we going to have…” Suddenly, a young girl, dressed in an adorable nightgown with pictures of Disney’s Belle and matching fluffy slippers came running into their room, and pounced on the bed, jumping in between them.   
“Merry Christmas, mommy and daddy!” she hugged Daniel, who’s look of shock couldn’t be greater if Alexis had come back in for a re-enactment of her sex-change reveal back at Fashion Week.   
He looked at the adorable little girl’s arms tight around his neck. He tried to wrack his brain. Was this what he was blocking out from last night? Had the reason Betty been trying to contact him been to tell him of this little girl? Is that what was happening?  
He took a breath and pulled the girl away from him, looking at her closely. There was no denying she had his blue eyes, his strong jawline. Thankfully, his smile.   
But, obviously, there was no possible way this little girl could BE his. Even though it seemed as if he and Betty had probably had sex last night, on their re-union, that didn’t change the fact that, five years ago, they hadn’t been sleeping together before she left.   
So Betty was a single mother who had immediately slept with some British man who had blue eyes like his and his jawline? Daniel’s mind was trying desperately to fill in the blanks.  
He looked at Betty, who was smiling at her daughter. He leaned backwards and whispered, “Who’s her father?”  
She looked at him as if she wanted to hit him, “Daniel Meade! What kind of a sick joke is that supposed to be? You think it’s funny to say stuff like that about your little girl on Christmas morning?”  
He squinted, as the little girl started jumping up and down, now, completely wound up for Christmas to start. “Let’s open presents, and have pancakes, and cocoa! Get up, guys! Get up! It’s Christmas! Yay!! It’s finally Christmas! Goodie, goodie, goodie! Are grandma and grandpa coming soon, Mommy?”  
Betty nodded, rubbing her little girl’s hair, “Yes, Rosie, sweetie, they said not to open the presents from them until they get here, okay?”  
“Grandma and Grandpa?” Daniel looked puzzled. “And who would that be? Did your dad get remarried to uh…what was her name, Ellen?”  
Betty shook her head and started getting out of bed, “Elena? You know she’s been dead for three years, Daniel! She died in a car crash on her way home from the hospital, what is WITH you today? Did you hit your head or something? Why are you acting so weird, honey?”  
He got out of bed and faced her, once little Rosie had run downstairs ahead of them. “Uh, well, yeah, Betty. I’m just a little thrown, here. You show up on Christmas Eve after five years out of the blue with a kid you claim is mine when we both know there’s no way in hell she could be!   
How drunk did you get me last night? Do you need money? You’re suddenly looking for a baby daddy and you picked me? This is insane!   
I mean, as an old friend, if you would simply have asked me for money, I would have gladly helped if the real father skipped out on you or something, but to seduce me and get me loaded like this and then try to say I’m the father? Not unless my sperm can magically go back in time, I’m not!  
What I don’t get is, I thought you were doing great in London! There are a lot better ways to ask for help, though, Betty. This is ridiculous!”  
She had a look of utter shock and disbelief on her face. “Dan, I mean Daniel, this is…insane! What ARE you talking about? You think for some reason Rosie isn’t really your daughter, now? Are you okay?”  
He looked around frantically, and not seeing his own clothes, but only some sweats and a corduroy jacket, he put them on, hurriedly and ran out the door. He realized, he’s not in Kansas anymore, Toto! Where the hell was he, anyhow?   
Was he even in New York? Where the hell did she live? The neighborhood looked vaguely familiar. Wait-was he in Betty’s old neighborhood in Queens? He ran back inside and saw keys to a mini-van on a key hook by the door, and got inside, grumbling over having to scrape off snow and ice.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4: Walk a Mile in Another Man’s Shoes  
A/N: For those of you who have seen this movie, for Detty-world, I will be making quite a few adjustments, but overall, I think the story of ‘choosing love’ is one that fits Daniel and Betty quite well. Here is the next installment.   
Daniel is trying to use the older model portable-style navigation system on the mini-van, to find the house in Queens where he left Betty and her daughter. Finally, he thinks to check the car’s registration in the glove box and tries punching in the address. Unfortunately, all it says is ‘when possible, make a U-turn, when possible, make a U-turn.”   
Finally, in frustration, he pulls it out of the cigarette lighter and screams, throwing it on the seat, “Shut up! SHUT UP! SHUT UP! You stupid, useless thing!”   
He stops, slamming on the brakes as he sees the vaguely familiar face of a handsome, working class man, in his mid-thirties, taking out the garbage. He pulls up and fiddles with the automatic window for a few seconds until he figures how to get it down, “Excuse me? Could you tell me where uh…” he looks down again at the address on the registration, since nothing looks familiar to him. “Can you tell me if I’m close to two hundred and forty-first…”  
Bobby breaks out in a relieved smile and yells at a pregnant Hilda, who is standing in the driveway, holding a casserole dish. She looks a bit older, but still lovely, and still a bit tacky in her clothing.   
She is wearing a low-cut blouse, peeking out plenty of cleavage from her coat. Bobby tells her, “Hilda! Tell Betty she can call off the search. Here he is, looking for directions. He seems to be lost!” Bobby laughs.  
Hilda looks pissed at him for worrying her sister, “Where the hell have you been? Do you have ANY frickin idea how worried you had Betty? We were about to break out the National Guard! You’d better have a damn good explanation, Mister!”  
Daniel thought quickly, and held out the red plastic bag, “I had a last minute present for uh…Rosie that I forgot I ordered and they called to say it was ready to be picked up. I wanted to give it to her for Christmas.”  
Hilda looked unconvinced. She put a hand on one hip, “Some place was open today? The kids all opened their presents already…”  
Bobby could tell his wife was ready to read Daniel the riot act, so he intervened to save him, “Hilda, baby, don’t you think you’d better get that flan over to Archie and Norma’s?   
Go on, sweetie. Don’t worry; I got this.” He went to her and squeezed her around her shoulders, then reached down and kissed her.   
She looked at him, shaking her head. She seemed to want to yell at Daniel more for being so thoughtless to her sister. Bobby grins and leans down to her pregnant belly and says,   
“You be good to your mommy, little guy! No more kicking when she’s trying to sleep, okay? She needs her rest. And so does daddy!” He winks at her and kisses her deeply again.  
She smiles, knowing he’s playing her, but relenting, as she holds up her hands, “Fine! I’m going, I’m going.” She points her finger at Daniel, “But don’t think you’re off the hook, just because this guy thinks he’s got your back and you two have this whole ‘boys will be boys’ thing! You still owe me and your wife and kids a better explanation than you just gave me!”  
She kisses Bobby goodbye and got into the car to leave. As soon as she is gone, Bobby shakes his head and puts his arm around Daniel, who is still obviously in a daze from everything he is trying to deal with in this ‘alternate reality’ he finds himself.   
“Come see what I did in the basement, Dan. You might need to take a minute before you go face the electric chair with your wife.”  
“Betty’s my wife.” Daniel is looking down at the wedding band on his left hand again, trying to get a handle on things.   
Bobby nods, smiling, “That’s right, buddy. Just keep telling yourself that. Betty’s your wife. You’re a very lucky guy. Chipmunk’s a great little gal. Who knew she’d blossom into such a gorgeous woman, huh?”  
Daniel stopped for a minute, remembering how Betty had looked this morning when he woke up to find himself in bed with her. “Yeah, she is beautiful. Chipmunk?”  
Bobby laughed, “Yeah, you know my little pet name for Betty. I don’t do the BB thing; that’s just you, man. Hilda’d slap me if I ever called her sister that.”  
“BB? I call Betty that? And…she…and everybody here calls me Dan?” He is flashing back to Cash’s nickname.  
“Is that…for ‘Dan the man’ or something?”  
Bobby shrugged, “I guess. What do you mean?”  
“Well, I used to always go by Daniel. Pretty much my whole life, actually. My sister is the only one who I ever let get away with Danny and even then it bugged me. That’s sort of why she did it, of course.”  
“Right, Alexis, the one who moved to Paris? I think I met her at your wedding. And your mom’s, too, of course.”  
Daniel is looking puzzled, “My mom? She got…re-married? To who?”  
Bobby laughed, “Uh, Cal Hartley, duh! That’s a good one, Dan.”  
Daniel shook his head, reeling from this one, “Wait, my mother married Cal Hartley? Why?”  
Bobby shrugged as he led Daniel down to his ‘man-cave’ in the finished basement. “I don’t know. I think it had to do with their son, Tyler.”  
“Is he still married to Amanda?”  
“Still? Yeah. They’re expecting, too. Hilda went to the baby shower Betty threw for her. Man, that girl can go through the flan for a little thing, huh? Especially when she’s pregnant. Of course Betty and Hilda can do their share of damage to one when they’re in a ‘delicate condition’, too, that’s for sure!”  
Daniel was trying to ‘keep up’. “Wait, am I crazy here, or…well, hell, don’t answer that one, I KNOW I am. But, when Hilda was yelling at me, did she say something about me having kids? Like as in kidS, with an S, as in more than one? I know about Rosie, or Rose, whatever. The cute little five year old.”  
Bobby furrows his brows, looking at Daniel with concern, and confusion, “Uh, actually, she’s only four. Are you kidding me, man? You uh…FORGOT about your son all of a sudden?   
Hell, yeah you got more than one kid. You went nuts, passing out cigars when you and Betty had little Jeremy last year. Now you don’t remember him? Are you okay?”  
Daniel was in a stupor, “I have a son? A daughter and a son? With Betty. That’s just…wild.” A small smile played across his lips.   
“Tell me, what’s up? Is everything okay at work?”  
“No, actually, it’s not. But, I guess if Mom married Cal Hartley; that explains a lot. Like how he got his claws into Meade Publications. I mean, I was trying to figure out how that happened. How I could possibly let my family business go to him?”  
Bobby is still trying to figure out if Daniel is drunk or something. And why he suddenly seems to have memory loss in regards to his own life.   
“Have a seat. Isn’t this great? I’d uh offer you a beer, but I think you may have already had a few too many. You know you really shouldn’t get behind the wheel if you’ve been drinking, Dan.”  
Daniel notices several pictures around Bobby’s bar of them together, bowling, and playing basketball together. Daniel laughs, “Geez, I actually bowl? Uh, listen, Bobby. We’re friends, right?”  
Bobby nods, “Sure, buddy. Have been for four years. Ever since you two came home.”  
“Came home? From where?”  
“Uh, London. Where else would I mean?”  
“Right.” Daniel is catching up, now. “So, I followed Betty to London. Is that when Mom started ‘dating’ Hartley?”  
Bobby shrugged, deciding to go ahead and offer Daniel a drink, though somewhat hesitatingly. “I suppose. Are you sure you want to smell like beer when you see Betty? Maybe you should just have some coffee, instead.”  
“You’re right. I should. But I really need this.” He takes a long swig of the beer, then asks, “I don’t suppose you have any Scotch?”  
He pulls out a bottle of Dewar’s, grinning. “Only for you, man. But, like I said, are you sure you want to get loaded before you go home? Maybe you should call the little missus at least. She’s been really frantic all morning, trying to find you. She even started calling the hospital.”  
“The hospital?” It suddenly dawns on him what a jerk he is being to Betty. How hurtful his reaction about little Rosie earlier must have been to her, especially. He looks into Bobby’s eyes, needing to tell someone the truth.  
“Bobby, listen, this is going to sound really insane, but I woke up this morning with Betty in my bed, or me in hers and little Rosie is jumping on the bed, calling me daddy and I just freaked out.   
This is not my life! I’m not married; I don’t live in Queens, and I don’t have kids! None of this is real to me!”  
Bobby nods, “I understand, Dan. Everybody goes through that. It’s perfectly normal to freak out once in a while, when you feel like you were this young, carefree guy, with no responsibilities, and then it’s like BAM!  
All of a sudden, you seem to blink your eyes and you don’t know what hit you. But now, you’ve got a house and a wife and kids and all these obligations. We all do the freak out once in a while. But…on Christmas?”   
“Yeah, but it’s not just the kids and being married. It’s the lifestyle. I live in Manhattan and I own and run Meade Publications.  
I have an expensive townhome there and I drive a Ferrari, when I don’t use the company town car. I’ve always been wealthy, as you know, but I’ve done pretty damn well for myself and my family’s business in the past four or five years, especially. I took a bad economy and made it work for me.   
Mainly, I worked my ass off! I learned to diversify and got into the whole Kindle and I-Pad online magazine thing in a big way. I also invested in a lot of prime real estate in up and coming areas.   
Actually, some areas like this, Bellerose and Bayside. My portfolio is somewhere in the five to six hundred million range, conservatively and I’m about to close on a huge deal or I was about to that would make that seem like chump change. I’m not saying any of this to brag. I’m just saying, that was my life. Up until this morning, that is.   
Now, I suddenly live in Queens? Don’t get me wrong, this is a nice enough suburb. That’s why I invested here. But, still, it’s a what, four bedroom house Betty and I are in?” He points out to the curb and his van parked outside.   
“And I drive that POS mini-van out there with a crappy old nav system that I was ready to throw through the window. I probably don’t even own a decent suit any more.   
What happened to me? How could I have gotten, well, poor? I don’t mean to sound condescending. But I grew up rich. I’m not sure how to handle all this. I’m not used to having to worry about money. My uh…guardian angel or whatever he was told me this is just a glimpse, though.   
He gave me this bell to ring, but it’s not really working right now. Until I can get back to my own life, can I count on your help to fill me in on important things I should know about this life?   
There are just the two kids, right? Rose and what’s the little boy’s name again? See, Betty’s going to expect me to know that kind of stuff. But, let’s keep this between you and me for now, please? I don’t want to freak her out.”  
Bobby looked at Daniel like he had two heads and took the glass of Scotch out of his hands, raising his eyebrow, “Uh, okay, yeah, I don’t think I’d be telling that little tale to Betty. I mean, I know you came from money, but…  
Oh, and by the way, your son’s name is Jeremy. He just turned had his first birthday last week. He’s a cute little guy. That’s what I’m hoping for this time, too.”  
“This time? You mean, this isn’t yours and Hilda’s first?”  
Bobby gave him a look and sniffed the Scotch, “No. We have a little girl, too. She’s three. Her name is Sherry. You know, like Sherry, baby?”   
“Cute.”  
“I thought so. Well, go on. Time to go face the music, pal. Good luck. I’ll cry at your funeral.” He laughed.  
“Wait, you said I call Betty BB? What’s that short for? I mean, besides the Betty part?”  
Bobby just grinned and made a gesture, in front of his chest, indicating Betty’s fuller figure. Daniel laughed, “Oh…right. I get it. Did I come up with that?”  
Bobby laughed, “Yeah, I think it was when she was pregnant with Rosie, back in London.”  
Daniel nodded. “Okay. Thanks, wish me luck!”  
Bobby toasted him with his beer, “Good luck; you’re gonna need it!”  
Daniel went into the house. Betty was on the phone, but told her father, “I’ll call you back, papi. He just walked in.”  
She glared at Daniel for a second, but then rushed to him and hugged him tightly, relieved to see him. He closed his eyes, flashing back to all the hundreds of hugs he has received from Betty and realizes just how much he’s missed them in the past five years.   
He tries to hold on to her, still enjoying her embrace, but she pulls away and slaps him hard, across the face,   
“That’s for making me worry about you all day and for running off like that and especially for saying what you said about your daughter, Daniel!”  
“What kind of a man does that? You know you missed Christmas with your children! You weren’t here to see Rosie’s eyes when she saw the bicycle you got her. I don’t understand.   
You spent six hours putting that thing together and you aren’t here to see her face? And WHY in the world would you all of a sudden doubt she is yours? Who else’s would she be?”  
Daniel shook his head, and kissed her long and deep. She was clearly affected, but still furious, “Uh, uh, you don’t get to kiss your way out of this, Daniel.”  
He smiled, “You’re not calling me Dan. So, is it mostly just around Queens people that I’m known as Dan, then?”  
She furrowed her brows, “What are you talking about? You know what we call each other. Were you drinking with Bobby again?”  
He shrugged, looking at her thoroughly now, and completely overcome with how great she looks. He holds her face in his hands,   
“God, you’re beautiful, Betty. I’m so sorry for what I said before. You know I didn’t mean that. I love little Rosie. And Jeremy, too. I can’t wait to get a look at the chip off the old block! I think I’m going to like seeing this life. I always wanted a family. This should be interesting. You’ve got to know I wanted to get in touch with you all this time, Betty. So badly. I just didn’t want to mess up your chance at Dunne. But I did love you.”  
“You did?”  
He quickly corrects himself, “I mean I do. I love you, Betty. Of course, I do. You’re my wife. We’re married. We’ve been married for five years.” He seems pleased with himself for remembering all this.  
“Four.” She rolls her eyes.   
“Right! I meant four, of course. And uh…Rosie is also four. OH, so she’s why we got married?”  
“Well, partially. I THOUGHT we were in love.”  
He knows he is in trouble, so he goes into his best charming routine, “Betty, how about…we go upstairs and re-enact our honeymoon? I’ll even carry you over the threshold, hon-ney.”   
He grins at his use of the term of endearment, thinking this married thing could definitely have its perks. He would figure out what happened to the Meade building once he spoke to his mother later.   
For now, he just wanted to take advantage of having Betty be here, and at least think she was married to him. It was, after all, a recurring fantasy he had, that things would have gone differently with he and Betty.   
He was beginning to think that Cash wasn’t such a monster, after all. This glimpse thing could be helpful. He just had to try and read people’s reactions and find out as much as he could about his life here, in Queens. Walk in ‘Dan’ the family man’s shoes for a while.   
Maybe that was what Cash meant for him to do. Then, he would eventually get back to his normal life. Once he did, he’d fish Betty’s number out of the trash and call her back.   
Still angry, she pushed him away, “You’re still not forgiven for this morning. But we don’t have time for this. We need to get to Bill and Gina’s party. We have less than an hour to get ready.”  
He rolled his eyes, “I’m not going to some stupid party for a bunch of people I don’t know, Betty! Let’s stay home. We can pour egg nog on each other. Give me some mistle toe and an hour and I bet I can make you forgive me.”   
She rolled her eyes and walked past him, “Oh, my God, you really still think those blue eyes can get you out of anything, don’t you?”  
He smirked and grabbed her as she tried to walk past him, then dipped her, kissing her again, and as he pulls her up, slowly, he can tell he’s affected her a bit. She blinks and shakes it off, though.   
“Daniel, stop it! I told you we don’t have time. This discussion is not over. But now, your mom will be here any minute to babysit and we need to get dressed! You’re not wearing that. I don’t care how funny you think it is!”  
“My mom is babysitting? Good Lord; I’d pay good money to see that! If I had any, that is.” He follows Betty upstairs, reluctantly.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5:   
A/N: Because I’m following UB previous story lines rather than be blindly faithful to the movie, much of what follows won’t ‘jibe’ with the film, but I’m sure us Detty-lovers will understand my reasoning.   
For one thing, I think Daniel would be a lot more altruistic than the character in the movie. Plus, in order for this overall story of choosing love over money, I had to take pretty drastic measures. So, I’m dancing to the beat of my own drum here.  
Daniel wanted to speak to his mother privately about the Meade building, but before he got a chance, Betty hurried him out the door to the party.   
He is annoyed at having to go to a party where he isn’t going to know anyone, but feels trapped. Otherwise, Betty threatened to make him stay home by himself with the kids, and that sounded like even more of a landmine at this point.   
When they arrive, Gina Gambaro greets them, wearing a too tight, extremely low-cut red dress. She smiles flirtatiously at Daniel and while Betty is taking off her coat and starting to speak to some of her friends, Gina offers Daniel an hors d’oeuvre.   
“Try one of my mushroom puffs, Dan.”  
He stares at the plate, trying not to notice her outfit. “No thanks.”  
“You know you want one. You always grab them.”   
She shoves one in his mouth, slowly, then licks her fingers seductively. His eyes pop and he nods, with his mouth full, “Mmm...good” and hurries away, looking for Betty.  
He finds her already talking to a group of people, most of whom he doesn’t recognize. They all seem to know him, however, and act quite happy to see him. In fact, he and Betty seem to be the most popular couple there.  
But he’s afraid they’ll ask him questions he doesn’t know the answer to, so he pours himself a drink and looks around for Bobby and Hilda.   
Betty slides in next to him and grins, whispering, “You know they’re not real, right?”  
“Huh?” He looks slightly puzzled and she winks at him,   
“Gina’s uh…mushroom puffs, of course. She buys them at Costco, and passes them off as her own.”  
He gets it and smiles back at her. “No, but yours are, right, BB?” he nudges her with his arm and points with his drink in hand, “I think I see Bobby, I’m going to go say hi to the guys, okay?”  
He heads for Bobby and two other men Daniel has never seen before, but who both greet him enthusiastically.   
Bobby smiles, “So, you still working on that hangover hallucination, Dan?”  
Daniel raises his glass, “You know it. I’m busy working on tomorrow’s, in fact.”   
He says quietly to Bobby. “Hey, can I ask you something?”  
Daniel looks around to make sure no one else hears, “Do you have any idea how I lost all my money and how it is that Cal now owns and runs what used to be Meade Publications?   
I didn’t get a chance to talk to Mom earlier, but I just can’t believe, even if she married the guy, she let him take my dad’s company over. And even if she DID give him all her shares, why in the hell would I give him mine?”  
Bobby sighed. He had hoped Daniel would be over his weird amnesia, but he patiently explained, “You didn’t give him anything. You sold it most of it to him. And he owns it, now, but he doesn’t run it, his son Matt does. Cal is retired. He and your mom travel a lot now.  
I know you did lose quite a bit after those guys in London who embezzled from you when you tried to start your own company there. That’s when you sold Cal most of your shares in your company.   
I guess you would have went back to work there eventually, although you told me you were never really all that happy working at Mode, other than working with Betty.   
But when you and Betty left London and came back here; you stayed in Queens long enough to really get to know the people here.”  
Bobby seemed moved, “You came through for us; for everybody, Dan. That’s why we think you’re such a great guy and why everybody here loves you so much.”  
“I came through? How so?”  
Bobby pulled Daniel away so no one would hear them, “For one thing, personally, you helped me and Hilda get our house, when I got laid off for a few months, right next to yours in this neighborhood.   
The same neighborhood you helped in all kinds of ways with your own money. Plus, you helped with Ignacio’s hospital costs, then with his fiancées funeral expenses, and I heard you also helped out your sister some when she was hit with the economy so hard in Paris, too.  
As far as the building thing went; I guess Cal figured, since he got most of the shares from you, your mom, and Wilhelmina, he wanted the building to be called Hartley, for his own two sons’ sake.   
They thought about calling it Hartley-Meade. But your mom cleared it with you and your sister, I think before he changed it, though.   
She’s actually a Hartley now, too. I’ve met the guy. He comes on a little strong at first, but he seems okay once you get used to him.   
I know you two had bad blood in the past, but for your brother Tyler and your mom’s sake, you worked it out with him a long time ago. He’s great with your kids, babysits all the time.”  
Daniel cringed, putting his hand up to his head, “God, please don’t tell me I work for him! It’s bad enough seeing THAT name where my dad’s should be, you know? I can almost hear him rolling in his grave!   
But I don’t think I could take it if I had to see it every single day and kow tow to the man. I still remember him making me dress up in a damn bunny suit! And Matt! Hell, I punched him before over Betty.   
He and I never got along too well, either. I may have made up with Cal now, but I am still a Meade!”  
Bobby nods, thinking about it for a minute, “I heard about you and Matt, fighting over Betty. Yeah, I guess it would be kind of a weird thing, not to have your own name on something like that anymore after seeing it up there for so long.   
But, when you two had little Jeremy, you told me that was how you were going to carry on your father’s name and that although it was great all the money your dad made over the years and left you and your family, there were more important ways than money to carry on a legacy.   
Besides, you’ve got something better than that big building downtown with your family’s name on it now, Dan.”  
Daniel looked puzzled, ‘’What’s that?”  
“The shelter and community center! That’s what you did with a lot of your money when you guys moved here. You also helped fund the after school program, among other things. And to answer your question earlier; no, you don’t work in publishing, anymore.   
You and Betty run a non-profit home in the neighborhood. You mainly help young girls, in trouble with nowhere to go, battered wives, people with alcohol problems, and anybody who needs help.”  
Daniel smiled, “Really? That’s…pretty cool, I guess.”  
“You named it after your dad. But you made sure they put Jeremy and Rosie down as the official owners. So, the little guy owns the place before he can even walk all that well yet! I’d say he’s off to a pretty great start.” He looked at Daniel rather sadly, shaking his head, and patting him on the back,   
“You’re not…into any drugs or anything are you, buddy? I know you told me you had a little trouble for a while there. But think of your family. You don’t want to mess up the best thing you ever had.   
It would break Betty’s heart if you started taking drugs, Dan. Us, too. You’re too good a guy to screw up your life like that. Think about the consequences of your actions, man.”  
“No, no. I think it’s starting to come back to me. I’ll be okay. Don’t worry. And thanks for the heads up on everything.”  
“Sure. Anytime. You’re a great guy. I’m proud to be your friend, Dan.” He hugged him and left to go talk to Hilda.  
“Thanks, Bobby.” Daniel nodded, and saw his wife. He watched her, smiling to see her this way. She seemed so confident and happy. He laughed along, as she told jokes, and talked to their friends, and Daniel watched with awe and pride at how happy and relaxed she seemed here, in her element, as opposed to how nervous and stressed she had often seemed at Mode.  
When they got home, she told him, as she handed him a dog leash, “I’ll go tell your mom we’re home.   
He looked at her blankly, “Don’t tell me you’re into this kind of stuff? Well, okay, but I want to tie you up, first.”  
She shot him a death glare, as a huge yellow lab came running on seeing her leash come out, “Hilarious! The poopy pouches are under the kitchen sink, in case you forgot, funny guy.   
Please don’t just let her go in the Peterson’s Azalea bushes and be too lazy to pick it up again. Knowing him, he’ll do DNA testing and sue us for destruction of property!”  
Daniel looked at the poor dog, happily wagging her tail. “Poopy pouches? They really call them that? That’s pretty disgusting. Wait, why do I have to take her out? She’s not MY dog” he whined.  
She was clearly running out of patience with him, “No, she’s the kids’ dog, Daniel. I guess we could wake up Jeremy and Rosie and make them walk her. Although he’s not walking all that well himself yet. I know, we could attach the leash to Rosie’s trike!”  
He rolled his eyes, thinking he still hated it when Betty was sarcastic at his expense. He looked down at the dog, wiggling hopefully. He moaned, “Come on, girl. Let’s see what you can do.”  
He looked down at her tag, “Let’s roll, Lucy. I’m dying to go back out in the freezing cold to pick up your poop in a pouch. Sounds like my idea of a fun Christmas! I could be skiing in Aspen right now, I hope you know. After I licked egg nog off a beautiful blonde. But this is much better!”  
They walked around for quite some time, and Daniel gradually grew more and more impatient. “If you could please pick a spot, sometime this CENTURY, maybe we could go back inside where it’s a lot warmer!”  
He peered around; rubbing his hands together in the cold, unsure of his surroundings, it had been such a long trek. He looked at Lucy, “I sure hope you know the way back.”  
The next morning, he woke to see he was alone. He smiled at first, hoping this had all just been some kind of crazy nightmare. Then, he heard a baby screaming loudly. He tried putting his hands over his ears. When that didn’t work, he put a pillow over his head.   
Finally, he heard the shower going and opened the door cautiously. He saw the outline of Betty, singing loudly and rather off-key in the shower. His eyes opened a bit wider at the sight. After staring at her form for a few seconds, he yelled, “That kid is yelling for you.”  
She kept singing and doing some quite interesting dance moves in the shower that he had to admit were quite sexy. He waited till there was a pause in the music and tried again, “HEY, Betty! The baby is crying.”  
She opened the door and he backed up as he saw her naked, wet body. She seemed unaffected by his reaction, “Yeah, so?”  
“He seems to want you.”  
She kept eye contact, completely oblivious to his ogling her, simply smiling at his feeble attempts to get out of his duty,   
“Nice try, slick. You know it’s your turn to take the kids. Try to get Jeremy to daycare on time.” She closed the shower door and went back to singing and dancing to the song.   
He frowned, looking back at her for a while, until the incessant cries of the baby in the next room tore him away from his dirty thoughts of joining her in the shower.  
He plodded hesitantly into the baby’s room to find little Rose, trying to comfort her baby brother with a bottle. She looked up at Daniel, strangely, “He’s not just hungry. He needs his diaper changed.”  
Daniel made a face, “Of course he does! Do you know how to do it? Do you want to uh, show daddy what a big girl you are?”  
She looked at Daniel suspiciously, seeming to size him up and got close to his face as he picked her up. She squeezed his nose, making him smile.   
She really was adorable, he realized, really looking at her closely for the first time. She was smart, too, it seemed, “You’re not really my daddy, are you?”  
Daniel was taken aback at her astute observation, “What gave me away?”  
She shrugged, “You seem…different. Where is my real daddy?”  
“I don’t know.”  
She looked like she was going to cry. God, he couldn’t make the poor little girl cry! He soothed her, patting her hair gently.   
“It’s gonna be okay, Rosie. I’m sure he loves you very much. And he’ll be back soon. Maybe in the meantime, we can help each other, okay?”  
She dried her tears and smiled at him, somewhat curiously, “Do you LIKE kids?”  
He smiled and nodded, “Yeah, sure. I don’t know that many. But, on a case by case basis, I think they’re pretty cute. You’re adorable. I’m sure your real daddy is very proud of you, honey. I know I would be.”  
She smiled and patted his cheek, “Can you make chocolate milk for me?”  
“I can give it a try.”  
“Great! Welcome to earth.”  
“Huh?” Daniel laughed.  
She seemed serious, “You were sent by aliens, right? They did a good job, you look like my daddy. And sound like him, too.”  
Daniel nodded, “Oh, yeah, right. But I bet I’m a little better looking than him, huh?” He grinned at her.  
She started to cry again. He frowned, praying she didn’t go yelling for her mommy and rat him out, “Don’t cry, sweetie. I’m sure the aliens will send your daddy back soon. And uh…take me back to the mother ship.”  
The baby had not ceased his wailing. Rosie calmed down and pointed to her brother, “Okay. I’ll help you as long as you don’t melt me or my brother’s brains.”  
“I won’t. I promise. I’ll even make you that chocolate milk and try to do the stuff your daddy normally does for you while I’m here, okay?”  
She nodded, and smiled, “Okay. But maybe you should change Jeremy first.”  
He put her down and un-taped the baby’s diaper. He peaked at the mess and made a face, then shook his head, and tried not to vomit at the smell,   
“Oh, God! That’s the vilest, most disgusting thing I’ve ever smelled in my life!” He gingerly took the diaper off the baby and after several attempts, managed to get it into the diaper pail. Then he looked at Rosie for guidance, “Now what?”  
She pointed to the fresh diapers on the shelf of the changing table and he took on. But she said, pointing to the wipes and powder, “No, you need that first.”  
He nodded, “Oh, right. Thanks!” He was wiping little Jeremy’s bottom and had just finished putting way too much powder on him when suddenly, the baby let out a grin and squirted Daniel in the face with a large stream of urine.   
He backed up, “Crap! Didn’t see that coming.” He wiped himself off with a cloth and threw it down when he realized it was a (clean) cloth diaper.   
After a second attempt, he finally managed to put the new disposable diaper on successfully, then picked up the baby and actually looked at him, smiling ear-to-ear.   
“So, you’re my son, huh? You’re messy, but cute. You got my blue eyes, too, I see. Gonna be another Meade lady-killer.” He enjoyed the baby’s wiggling and cooing for a minute. He still seemed unsure of how to hold him.  
Daniel somehow managed to get the kids into their car seats and found the address to the daycare for Jeremy and pre-school for Rosie.   
As he struggled with the car seat for several minutes unsuccessfully, ready to just hand off the whole thing, Rosie just looked at him, with that patient look, he thought, just like her mother.   
She pointed to the ‘trick’ part of the crazy contraption, “Push the red button.”  
He did so and magically, the seat lifted up so he could retrieve the wiggling baby. He held Jeremy out away from him, still quite unsure of himself. He saw a woman standing outside the building, with her arms outstretched to receive Jeremy from him.   
He handed him off gratefully at first, then looked back at her, not sure of the protocol for these places, “Uh, do I get some kind of receipt or something? How do I know you’re going to give him back?” The woman just gave him a withering glance, assuming he was being facetious and took Jeremy inside.  
Next stop, Rosie’s pre-school. Luckily, both places were in ‘recent places’ on the nav system and this time, Daniel was able to follow the directions there.   
She rattled off her schedule like a pro, “I have ballet lessons at four and I’m done at five. Please don’t be late! Kids hate to be the last one picked up. I even get mad at my real dad when he does that.”  
He nods, smiling, “Okay, five o’clock. I won’t be late. Got it. Thanks for the tip, sweetie.” She started to climb out and wave goodbye, somewhat curiously at him.  
He stuck his head back out, “Hey, Rosie?”  
“Yes?”  
“Where do I go now?”  
She shrugged, “Work, I guess.”  
He nodded, “Yeah, I figured. But, do you know where he, I mean I work? Is it the shelter?”  
She furrowed her brow, “I think so. Check the car lady. It says Grandpa M’s name. The one I never met.”  
“Okay, thanks.” He smiled, and tapped the ‘car lady’ and saw the listing under favorites, “Bradford Meade Shelter” and sighed, looking up, “I wonder if you’d finally be proud of me, Dad. Probably not. I’m sure you’d be pissed that I let them take down your name off the building.   
But I guess what really matters is that I’m proud of those kids. They’re great. I actually think I did a pretty good job with your money, too, using it for lots of good things instead of continuing to waste it like I used to when I was younger.   
I know one thing; Jeremy and Rosie will be loved and that’s way more important than having a lot of money.   
Not that I didn’t appreciate all the work you did. I know you gave me and Alex all the money in the world, but you were never there for either one of us, or Mom. So, let’s see if I can actually be a good husband and father. Then I’ll be more successful than you were; no disrespect, Dad.”


	6. Chapter 6

As he pulled up to the ‘Bradford Meade Shelter’, Daniel had a sudden sense of pride in himself he couldn’t remember ever feeling before. He had just dropped off his son and daughter at daycare and pre-school.   
He knew how difficult it had been in the past to navigate his way through the day, in his old life, the one in which he didn’t have to think where his next meal was coming from.   
Yes, he had done well financially; he had taken what his father left him and multiplied it ten-fold. He had been wise in his investments, worked hard and continued to take the money he already had to make more money.   
It hadn’t been particularly easy either, and he had had to make sacrifices along the way. The main one being having no one to truly share his life with. After he had said goodbye to Betty that day, he found himself unable to think about any other woman for quite some time.   
When he finally had recovered himself, all he could do is work, to block out the pain. Finally, in desperation, he had slipped back into his old pattern of merely filling his empty bed, not wanting to try again to fill the hole in his heart turning his back on a future with Betty had left.  
Now, in this life, he had come to see how much harder it was to make ends meet when you don’t already have plenty to begin with. He wasn’t used to having to scrimp or settle for less than the highest quality of anything. Now, he found himself being much more selective about what he chose to spend his money on from day to day.   
He had also learned to take his gift for developing contacts, for cultivating relationships and turn it to a higher purpose other than simply making more money for himself. Before he reached the steps of the shelter that bore his father’s name, a young woman approached him.   
She looked like she had had some tough times, but she walked with purpose and was clean, and dressed nicely. Not designer clothing, but well-made, clean and put together. Her hair and face were cleaner than most of the people Daniel had learned to expect showing up for help.  
“Hey. How’s it going?” he asked gently, wondering what services this young girl might need. She didn’t really seem like the type to need any help, he thought. Betty had some purchases to make, so he knew she wouldn’t be in for a few hours.   
Daniel opened the doors, and led her inside. “Come on in. My wife will be here in a little while. Is there something I can do to help in the meantime? Have a seat. I’ll make us some coffee, if you like.”  
She smiled, as she sat, taking out her small, designer knock-off handbag, and pulling out two pieces of paper.   
When Daniel returned, setting the coffee down and taking a seat next to her, he waited to hear her out. He had come to find that often, people coming here mainly needed to be heard. To be told they still had purpose, still had value, regardless of how much money they had.   
It had taught him some very important lessons about integrity, as well. He had seen so many of the people, not using their circumstances as an excuse for bad behavior. They had thanked him and Betty graciously for their help. He came to understand how to respect and admire people not for how they were dressed on the outside so much anymore, as simply how they conducted themselves as human beings.  
She put one of the papers in front of him, “First of all, Mr. Meade, I need to say thank you. Because of you and your wife helping me, I pulled myself together after my mom died when we were on the streets three years ago, leaving me to raise my little sister.   
You all let us stay here, gave us food and shelter, and most important, believed in me. I was able to finish my high school classes online here, and you told me I could get that piece of paper for my degree, too.”   
She laughed, remembering, “You told me you weren’t the brightest student going to Harvard, either, but that if you could graduate, so could I; that I was smarter than you.   
I could only afford Queen’s College, even with your scholarship and a few school loans for books, but see, you were right, Mr. Meade. I finished last month, first in my class.”  
He smiled, nodding, “Hey, my wife graduated from Queens, and she’s way smarter than I am. It’s a good college, too. Maybe they don’t have as good a PR guys as Harvard is all.”  
She laughed, showing him the other paper she had, “And yesterday, I got THIS. After busting down doors, and trying to sell myself, pouring out my heart and soul to place after place, you told me to look up your old friend, Mr. Grubstick and mention your name, and show him your reference.   
I think you said he was sort of an old rival for your wife and you tried to get him fired, once, even though you laughed about it, like it was some sort of joke. But, I got a job in the accounting department at this great new financial company I saw on Craigslist. I flipped when I saw his name as the contact person and I called him and set up an interview.   
He said he just started himself as their new senior accountant, and he needs a clerk. Anyway, here’s my contract. I’m going to be working, full-time, with benefits and everything!   
I also got my own apartment, for me and little Carla. Now, I can take care of her. I got her registered in school. We’ve got a chance at a good future. I feel like the luckiest girl alive right now.   
I have a roof over my head that I will be paying for on my own. I got some nice clothes, and I can take a shower whenever I want. I even get to watch movies on this great little laptop your wife gave me.   
Little Carla is so happy, now. She really is why I tried so hard. If it weren’t for her, I might have just given up. She’s amazing, though. She gives me the strength to keep on trying, to see her smile. She’s such a little social butterfly. She made new friends already.   
I talked to the landlord and she said I could do the deposit in payments. She was nice enough to work with me on it, once I showed her that I was starting a new job. She even said her daughter might be able to keep an eye on Carla for me if I needed her to when there isn’t school.  
I don’t know how to thank you. You and Mrs. Meade have changed my life! I know you told me you named this place after your father who passed away. I miss my mom every day and I always will, just like you must miss your dad. But I’m sure he would be so proud of you, of what you are doing here. You help a lot of people, Mr. Meade. Thank you, from the bottom of my heart.”  
He nodded, unable to speak at first, as he searched for the right words. He finally smiled, and said, “Call me Dan. And I’m so proud of you, Amelia. I’m sure your mom is, too.” He hugged her, seeing the name on her degree.   
He held it up, grinning, trying not to let her see his tears, “Hey, do you mind if I make a copy of this and put in on my office wall? Rosie’s art work could use a little company and I think my wife would like to see she’s not the only bright one who graduated from Queen’s College.”  
Later that night, as he was lying on the bed, watching business news, he saw something he swore had mentioned Waddell and Reid, but just as he turned up the volume with the remote, Betty came in from the bathroom, and grabbed the remote from him, turning off the television. “The kids are asleep, honey.”   
“Hey! I was watching that!” He said.   
She closed the blinds in their bedroom and took off her shoes, excitedly, “Dan, I said, the kids are asleep.”  
He nodded, wearily, not seeming to notice the emphasis on her words or catch her innuendo yet, “Yeah, those little monkeys can be a handful. I stopped Jeremy from falling off the stairs and Rosie is all over the place with that tricycle, now. I’m wondering if I should have…Betty, leave my socks alone, my feet are cold. What are you doing?”   
She had pulled off his socks and was climbing across the foot of the bed and now, she started unbuttoning her blouse, rather seductively.  
He smiled, coming out of ‘daddy land’ finally and catching on. “You want me.” He finally caught on to what she was doing. “You’re coming onto me, Betty?”  
She nodded, grinning, “That is the general idea, yeah. It’s been a while. I can’t believe you used to be Mr. Bachelor of the year.”  
He shrugged, smiling slyly, “Hey, I’ve been busy, exhausted, really. Trying to pay the bills, be a good provider for you and the kids, you know. It can’t always be about sex, BB.”  
She rolled her eyes, blushing slightly, as she continued taking off her shirt, straddling him on the bed. “That’s not what you used to say back in London. That’s how Rosie happened! Somebody got too excited to remember to buy condoms and thought we should just chance it, remember, Dan? ”  
He grabbed her face, looking at her lustfully, “Hey, how about you call me Daniel and I’ll show you just how much I love you, okay wifey dear?”  
He rolled on top of her, kissing her deeply. He could hardly believe how long it had been. This was marriage? Sleeping in the same bed didn’t guarantee you had sex on a regular basis, that was for sure, he was finding out.   
She nodded, as he kissed her, and whispered against his lips, “Sure, Daniel. I’ll call you whatever you want, honey. Especially when you kiss me like that.”  
When you had a family, you had to make time for yourselves. It was exhausting! He had never wanted a woman more right now, though. She clearly wanted him, too.   
He couldn’t believe how amazing she was. She was a fabulous mother. She had shown him how much fun they could have as a couple, even without being wealthy. Now, he looked deeply into her eyes, touching her face. “God, you’re so beautiful, Betty.”  
She nodded, smiling, “Keep it up, honey. This is good stuff.” She kissed his neck and pulled off his undershirt, then caressed his bare chest, kissing him more deeply now, as they both continued to touch each other, lovingly.   
He held her face in his hands, struck for a moment. “No, I mean it. You were always pretty, Betty. I told you years ago, even with the braces and all those crazy clothes you wore at first, you were still beautiful, and I meant it. But now…you’ve grown into this amazingly gorgeous woman. You’ve gotten even prettier over the years.”  
She was clearly deeply moved by his declaration. “How do you do that?”  
“Do what?”  
“Look at me as if you haven’t seen me, every day for almost five years?”  
He didn’t know exactly how to answer that one. Maybe because he hadn’t even realized himself how much he had missed her every one of those days, he was thinking to himself.   
She got up, running to the bathroom, grabbing a bag from her top dresser drawer. “Hang on. I got something.”  
He flopped back onto the bed, putting his hand behind his neck, for a minute, grinning in anticipation. How had he managed to never get over her all this time, he wondered? He had lived a life, slept with countless women, even actually went on dates with a few of them, although never anything too serious.   
He had always put his lack of a real love life off to the fact that he was simply too busy with work. But honestly, how much more money did he need? Did he really NEED to work himself so hard all the time? Or did he simply do it to fill the lonely void he felt, every day since he had let Betty get on that plane?  
He found himself worried about how it was going to feel when he had to go back to that empty townhome of his now. Now that he had seen ‘how the other half lives’. Now that he had two wonderful children and the love of a woman like Betty in his life. Now that he had a fulfilling purpose to his life and friends and family that all loved him.   
He felt suddenly unwilling to go back to the absence of all this warmth, back to the hollow, shallow life he had been living for the past five years.  
When Betty came back to bed, wearing a black negligee, he surprised the hell out of himself by pretending to be asleep already. He needed to figure out how he was going to deal with his own life again, once he got back to it. He didn’t know how he was going to handle losing her all over again, if this life was indeed, too good to be true, as he feared.


	7. Chapter 7

Betty shook Daniel gently on the shoulder, “It’s time to get up, honey.”   
He moaned, but is clearly on auto-pilot. He gets out of bed, his eyes still half-closed and goes downstairs, starts coffee, and heats up a bottle for Jeremy.   
Still barely opening his eyes, and sipping his coffee, he returns to their bedroom to find Betty, grinning on the bed, holding a box, wrapped in brightly colored paper, with a big, red bow.  
He blinks, puzzled. “What’s that?”  
Clearly excited, Betty tells him, “It’s your anniversary present, of course! Now, listen, before you do whatever crazy thing you have planned for us, I really want you to open my present, first, okay? I hope you’re going to like it!”  
He is dying inside, knowing he’s in deep trouble. How could he have known their anniversary was coming? He never actually married her, he thought to himself. This was so unfair!   
He sighed, and plastered a fake smile on his face, feeling guilty as he started to open the present. Betty is obviously sure her present to him will be a hit.   
Her eyes light up as he opens the box to reveal a Gucci suit, much like the one he had been admiring at the mall.  
His eyes lit up, “Betty, honey, you really shouldn’t have spent….”  
She shook her head, “I didn’t. I still have a little pull at Mode, as the wife of the former EIC there! I got a pass from your mom to check out The Closet.   
But it’s last season, so I got a great deal. I know you wouldn’t say anything, but you could never really be happy with a knock-off.”  
He reluctantly slips on the jacket. It fits very well, and looks great on him; as good as the one that had cost so much. Now he really feels like a heel.  
He tries to recover, “I…wasn’t expecting for us to exchange presents this early. You know, anniversaries are good all day, honey.”  
She isn’t buying it. “Are you kidding? Most the time, you’re like a kid…” he shoots her a look, knowing she had started to say ‘on Christmas’, but that was still a sore subject after his disappearing act, less than a month ago. She continues, “You can’t WAIT to give me your present.”  
He looks at her, not knowing what to say, “Betty… honey…the thing is….I…sort of…”  
“forgot.” Her excitement quickly fades and her face falls immediately as it dawns on her that he has actually forgotten.   
At first, she is a bit shocked, not wanting to believe it. Then, as it settles in, she tries to overcome it, pretending it’s not a big deal to her, shrugging, “Well, it’s just another day, right?”  
He tries to make light, “You know me, B, I forget everything. I’m so forgetful.”  
She nodded, still shell-shocked, but says, quietly, almost to herself, “Yes, but…since we got married, you haven’t forgotten one birthday, one anniversary. You even remembered the first night we made love a year later.”   
She sighed, giving him a fake smile, “But, I guess I should have known, marrying an old guy like you, this day would come, eventually.”  
He is ready to cry, he feels so badly for hurting her feelings. He nods, lamely going along with her, “Yeah, that must be it, the dimensia is setting in already. Sorry, Betty. I’m really sorry, sweetie. I’ll make it better, I promise.”  
He kisses her, and she nods, and gets up to go get dressed for work, leaving the suit on the bed, “It’s no big deal. I just got a good deal on the suit, that’s all.”  
He tries to rally, “I promise, Betty. I’ll make this up to you, okay?” He gives a weak smile and a thumbs up.  
She nods and returns a fake smile and thumbs up as she goes into the bathroom.  
Overwhelmed, Daniel runs outside for some air and sees Rosie’s tricycle. He starts ringing the bell, frantically. He wants out of this impossible situation, now.   
He picks up the whole tricycle, screaming to Cash, “I want to get out of here! This isn’t fair; I can’t remember something that never happened to me!”  
Rosie walks slowly outside, on hearing her bell. She eyes Daniel carefully, and calmly tells him, “Drop the trike and step away. Grown-ups don’t do that. Especially my daddy. He would never hurt my tricycle like that.”  
He shakes his head, putting it down quickly, worried he’s scared her. He is amazed at how calm she is, and how much she reminds him of himself sometimes in her expressions and the funny little things she says. He is glad he has an ally who knows his secret, even if she is only four years old.  
He explains what has happened, “I forgot your mom and dad’s, you know…their or our wedding anniversary. But, technically, I never was there, so how was I supposed to remember?”  
She nods, giving him a sympathetic look, patting his hand gently, “I understand. Could you make me some more chocolate milk?”  
He smiles, “I think I can still handle that, at least.” He has apparently become an expert on how she likes it, with tons of chocolate. He stirs it for her and hands it to her. After she drinks, she has an adorable chocolate mustache.  
She looks up at him. He can’t help grinning at her, she’s so cute. “Is that to your liking, my lady?”  
She nods, smiling from ear-to-ear, “Perfect! See, you figured that out. You’re doing fine. It’s just going to take a while to learn things about earth. I should have told you. He always remembers stuff like that. One year, he got her a star!”  
He winces, “A star? Sounds kinda cheezy to me.”  
She shrugs, clearly, SHE was impressed with her father’s gesture, “She loved it!”  
He bites his lip, thinking, “I could get her…earrings. A necklace. A nice dress.” He knows, even as he’s saying these, they are all incredibly lame.  
She makes faces at all his suggestions, “That’s nice, but…you DID forget their anniversy.”  
He racks his brain, “Yeah. Let’s see. What would Betty want? She’s stuck out here, in Queens, she’s got to miss London and Manhattan a little…I know; did he, I mean I ever take her to the city?”  
She brightens up, “Now you’re getting it!”  
Now he’s on familiar footing, at least, he thinks to himself, grinning at all the possibilities. First, he calls in his secret weapon.  
“Mom, it’s me. Can you come babysit the kids tonight?”   
He hesitates, “Sure, bring Cal, too, I guess. I sort of forget our anniversary, and I need your help to try and make it up to Betty. Great! Thanks, I’ll see you tonight.”  
Betty is getting ready for their evening and she takes out red and black dresses. The black one is much sexier; lower neckline, higher hemline. She holds them up for Rosie to help her decide.   
Her daughter points to the black one, “The red one is pretty. I like the color, but Daddy will like that one better.”  
Betty nods, “I think you’re right, pumpkin. Come here. You want to help mommy get ready? I’ll let you try on some lipstick.”  
Little Rosie’s eyes light up and she excitedly jumps onto her mother’s lap as she’s putting on her make-up in the mirror.   
As Betty looks at her own reflection, with her daughter on her lap, she is struck with the picture she let Daniel use of her for the Fabia shoot when they first started working together, sitting on her own mother’s lap, putting on lipstick together.   
She smiles at little Rose Claire Meade, as she shows her how to put on the red lipstick and smack her lips together. “Like this. Like you’re kissing someone.” Rosie imitates her mother’s actions, exaggeratedly.   
“Someone like daddy?” she asks.  
Betty nods, “Hmm…well, we’ll see about that one. Maybe. I might just forgive your daddy enough to kiss him tonight. Do you think I should?”

Little Rosie looks into her mother’s eyes, the red lipstick only making her words seem more absurd. “You have to give him time, mommy. He’s still learning our ways.”  
Betty laughs, as does Daniel, who has been watching from the hallway, mesmerized at the sight of his wife and daughter in such a sweet scene.  
Claire arrives with Cal and as Daniel answers the door he is struck with how much older the mogul seems since he last saw him. He barely recognizes the man. “Cal?”  
Cal nods, smiling in a rather childish manner. “Daniel, my boy! How are you? Any bunnies around? We don’t want to have to pick up any bunny do do, now do we?” He laughs at his own joke.  
Daniel’s eyes practically cross, as he looks at his mother. She merely smiles and laughs, to humor her husband. “Say, Cal, honey, why don’t you go check on the kids? Give little Jeremy a piggy back ride. I’ll see if Betty needs any help getting ready.   
Oh, here, Daniel. Here’s all the information you need about the restaurant and hotel I booked for you.”  
“Thanks mom.” He takes the paper from her, looking after Cal. He turns to her, “What in the world is wrong with him?”  
She looks at Daniel, puzzled, “What do you mean? He’s having a good day today. I didn’t want to leave him alone with that stupid nurse. She annoys me sometimes.   
She gives him too much sugar. At least with Cal, I don’t have to worry about him sleeping with her, though. Sorry, honey. No offense to your father.”  
He grabs his mother’s arm, “No, why is he talking like that? And why does he need a nurse? What’s wrong with him? Did he have a stroke or something?”  
She is clearly annoyed, “No, of course not. You know Cal’s had Alzheimer’s for the past two years. What’s wrong with YOU, Daniel? You forget your own anniversary, and now you’re asking stupid questions.   
And don’t even get me started about that stunt you pulled on Christmas! You’d better get your act together, mister!”  
“Sorry, Mom.” He mumbles, unsure what to say to her.  
She looks at him, gently touching his cheek, “You’ve grown into such a good man, Daniel. I’ve come to be so proud of you and so grateful to see you in this happy life you and Betty have built for yourselves.”  
He looks around, then whispers, “I am happy, but…I need to talk to you about what happened, Mom. How in the world did I possibly lose almost ALL the money I had?   
And how in the hell did you talk me and Alexis into putting Cal’s name on Dad’s building? I’m sorry about his disease, but that building, Mom? Dad would be turning in his grave. You know he would. I don’t get it!”  
She furrows her brows, “You know as well as I do; that once Cal and Tyler reconciled, and he and I got engaged, all of us considered changing it to Meade-Hartley, just like Tyler and I changed our names.   
Of course I could have just taken Hartley, but I didn’t want to disassociate myself with you or Alexis, or DJ. He is still a Meade, like you, and of course now, you have Jeremy. Not to discount Rosie, just because she’s a girl, either.”  
Daniel smiled with pride, “I know; she and Jeremy are just like me and Alex in a weird way. Only, I think my daughter really likes being a girl! It’s too early to tell about Jeremy. But, I’m fine, no matter what.” He thought of the tender scene he had just witnessed.  
But he couldn’t quite let go of his father’s sense of pride and accomplishment, now seemingly obliterated after all Bradford’s hard work, even if it had come at the expense of time spent away from his family, and included major bouts of infidelity.  
“But, Mom…seriously, I feel like I should have done SOMETHING to keep the name Meade on that building! You know Dad would have flipped to see the name Hartley up there. It’s like a slap in the face.”  
She looked at him, “Are you alright? I know you’ve been going through something lately. Mid-life crisis, perhaps? You and Betty have always seemed so happy! Daniel we’ve already been through this years ago.   
The more things went south with that stupid accounting firm in London, the more Cal and I were willing to help you, but when you and Betty moved back home, and you had little Rosie, and things were so bad with her father’s health for a while, you totally changed your outlook. You found something your father never did. He was never satisfied.”  
“What’s that?’  
“Contentment. Enjoying your family, and especially once you told me you wanted to start the shelter with Betty, I never saw you happier. Now…that’s changed?   
You want to go back to being rich, but miserable again all of a sudden? Why? Daniel, you were headed on the wrong path before. Having money didn’t make you a better man. It made you selfish, and thoughtless.   
You told me this yourself, many times, when I offered to help you out. You said you wanted to start over and be your own man. And you didn’t care if that life meant being wealthy again or not, as long as it had you and Betty in it, that you would be happy, remember?   
Now, you’re forgetting anniversaries, leaving her and the kids on Christmas, and accusing her of cheating on you? It pains me to say this, but that sounds more like things your father would do. You’re not…seeing someone are you?”  
He shook his head, vehemently, “NO! No, of course not, Mom! I’m fine. We’re fine. I’ve just been pre-occupied, is all. Look, I’m sorry I brought it up. Thanks again for your help, okay? I love you.” He kissed her on the cheek.  
“I love you too, Daniel.”  
He smiled, “It’s good to hear at least someone call me Daniel! I’m kind of over this whole ‘Dan’ crap! How the hell did that start, anyway? Betty’s even calling me Dan. It’s weird.”  
She laughed, patting his cheek, “You’ll always be Daniel to me, of course. You know as well as I do, the uh…fine people of your adopted new home here in Queens simply refused to call you Daniel, and once you started the shelter, they called you ‘Dan the man’ so you finally learned to embrace it in the friendly spirit it was meant, I suppose.   
Are you sure you’re okay, dear?” She seemed concerned about how many questions he was asking. “You know, Cal started out asking a lot of strange questions, too. Have you been to see a doctor, recently?”  
“Mom, I don’t have Alzheimer’s, I promise you. I’m fine. Look, never mind. I’ll talk to you later, okay? Thanks, again.”   
That evening, as they arrived, Betty whispered, “Del Posto? Can we afford this place?”  
He whispered back, “Damn the costs! This is our anniversary. I’m taking my baby out. Besides, your mother-in-law knows the chef, of course, so we’re golden.”  
She giggles and they are shown to a secluded table. Violins come and play ‘their song’. Betty smiles and leans over to him, “You’re still not off the hook, yet. But…”  
He grinned, showing some of that old confidence, “I’m getting close, right?”  
She gave him a slight smile to let him know she’s duly impressed with his efforts at a comeback.  
There is a piano, and she listens, intently, as the pianist plays, “The Way You Look Tonight.” He comes to her, holding out his hand, saying gruffly, as he smiles, “Can I…throw you around the floor for a bit?”  
She looks around, “I don’t really think they have dancing here.”  
He shrugs, still keeping his eyes only on her, “Sure they do. Come on. I know you want to.”  
She gets up and they dance, as if no one else is there for a few minutes. He dips her, and she giggles, “Not bad, for a father of two in Queens.”  
He whispers, “I have my moments,” bringing her back up and kissing her cheek.   
When the waiter appears, Daniel decides to show off a little. He smiles and tells him, “Yes, we’ll have the trio of Amuse Bouche, with the herbal soup. We’ll try the black olive bread with sweet butter, the antipasti of Insalata Ruchetta, Pasta Caramelle di robiola with the Black Truffle Butter, Carrot puree, and for dessert, the Chocolate Ricotta Torino with toasted Sicilian Pistachios and Gelato.”  
The waiter seemed impressed, “Of course, sir. And may I say…those are all excellent choices!”  
Daniel beamed, relishing finally being back in his element, “Yes, you may. And to drink, we’ll have the Rosso de Veo.”  
Betty is looking at the menu, “Honey, that’s eight hundred dollars a bottle.”  
He scans the menu quickly, finding one under a hundred dollars, “Sorry, make that Georges De Latour, Private Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon, Nineteen ninety-seven, please.” The waiter nods and gives Betty a glance, “Very good, sir.”  
Daniel smiles, confidently, knowing he’s wearing her down, “So, how am I doing, so far?”  
She shrugs, giving him a slight smirk, as he grabs her hand over the table, kissing it, “You’re getting warmer, slick.”


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chapter 8

As the evening wears on, Daniel finds himself back in the ‘zone’ he always felt with Betty at Mode. They are comfortable, talking, and laughing over anything and everything.   
Except everything is on a much deeper level now. They are sharing sweet stories about the kids, and their families and friends, as well as some of the people they have gotten to know at the shelter.  
Betty is spellbound and obviously touched when he shares the story about Amelia coming to thank him recently. She smiles, “You really did inspire her, Daniel.”  
A smile spreads across his face. “I like it when you call me Daniel.”  
She rolls her eyes, “I’ve noticed. Just lately, you’ve sort of been having a rough time, Daniel. Care to let me in on what’s going on? I am your wife. You haven’t forgotten that, too, have you?” He knows she’s teasing, sort of.  
He puts his hand to his heart, “Ooh, low blow, Suarez. I mean…Meade.” He grins. He looks at her. Things all evening have been going so well, in spite of the rocky start.   
He wants so badly to just tell her everything that’s happened to him, all of it and unburden himself. At Mode, years ago, they always helped each other through everything. And now, he’s had to carry this around, keep it a secret from her.   
“Are you sure you want to hear this? You’re going to think I’m crazy.”   
She grins, “Well, I sort of knew that already when I married you, honey.” She leans forward, squeezing his hand in hers. “Just tell me, Daniel. We’ve always been open and honest with each other, no matter what and it’s worked pretty well for us so far.   
Remember when you first found out about Waddell and Reid? You told me later you were tempted to try and hide it from me, pretend it never happened.   
But, thank God, you didn’t. You simply told me and we dealt with it the best we could. I think I finally convinced you we could live quite comfortably on less than millions and still be happy. You told me later you even grew to get some satisfaction out of finding bargains. We’re hardly poor, Daniel.   
Just because you’re not a millionaire any more, doesn’t mean we’re ready for food stamps. I mean, we can’t really afford this place on a regular basis, but…it was very sweet of you to bring me here. Whatever it is…I can tell you’re hurting. And that hurts me. Please, honey. Let me help you through it. You’re okay, aren’t you? I mean, you’re healthy, right?” He can see the fear on her face.  
He nods, brushing back a strand of hair that’s fallen across her eyes, “I’m fine, sweetie. I promise. No physical or mental illness here. It’s just…” he tries to think how in the world to word this. Something occurs to him.  
“I’m living…it feels like I’m living someone else’s life. It’s like, I used to be this one kind of guy, self-assured, well-off, knew exactly what I wanted, worked really hard, but…had no one to share it with, I guess.  
Then, one morning, Christmas to be exact, I woke up and all of a sudden, I’m a husband and a dad! I have this great family, but I live in Queens of all places. Me, Betty, Daniel Meade, living in Queens? And the building that had my father’s name on it now has the name of my sworn enemy, who by the way, my mom is now married to!  
You and I run a homeless shelter, and we dress…in retail. I used to drive a Ferrari for God’s sake, Betty. And now I drive a mini-van? My clothes are just…sub-par. Except for this suit you got me. It’s great.  
You, you look great in anything, you get more gorgeous every time I see you and part of me feels so honored that you would ever even consent to marry me, let alone bear my children and be willing to live in poverty with me, but still, I…”  
She laughs, as he takes a breath. He’s looks away, afraid she’s going to freak out at his revelation.  
As usual, he hasn’t given her nearly enough credit, he realizes. She puts her hand on his cheek, looking into his eyes, “There, was that so hard?   
Daniel…what was that? I think I know what you mean, though, honestly. You don’t think I wake up and think, how did I get here? Back in my same old neighborhood that I grew up in?   
You know when I first came to Mode; I had such big dreams, dreams of owning my own magazine, right? I still think about all that.   
How great it would be, to not have to worry about money. To have a beautiful wardrobe and a fancy car and bigger, newer house, nice things, go out like this whenever we wanted?”   
She is caught up in it, with him, now; they’re on the same wavelength. “To ask for things and have people just bring them to you?”  
Just then, the waiter brings their coffee, and they laugh. He whispers, “It’s wonderful!”   
She nods, “Yeah, of course. I think about all that, too, Daniel.”  
He is somewhat surprised but extremely happy they seem to be so in sync with one another. She takes a sip of coffee and breathes, “But then I realize, in doing that, I erase what we DO have now, Daniel. Great things, things that I would never give up. Our kids, our family, our friends. All the people we help.”  
“Good things.” He nods, seeing her point. “I know, Betty. It’s just…I used to be a totally different kind of man. Now, my life is just so…”  
“Hard? Worse?” She seems worried; he might be leading up to something here.  
He shakes his head, re-assuring her, “Just different. Well, maybe harder in some ways. But mostly, just different. I know one thing. There isn’t anywhere else I’d rather be right now, than here with you, Betty.”  
She smiled, leaning forward as he kissed her, gently.   
Later, in the luxury hotel his mother helped him get, he held her in his arms, carrying her over the door, pushing it open with his foot.   
She is awestruck at the lovely view of the city and the luxurious furnishings. “Wow! This is amazing, Daniel.”  
He puts her down gently, kissing her once again, before he goes to a bottle of champagne that has been chilling. He pops the cork as Betty goes to the window, admiring the view.   
“You know how crazy I get on champagne, sweetie.”  
He smiles, looking at her hungrily. “Well, we’ll just have to fill yours up to the top, then.”  
She walks to him, looking at him with love and desire. He hands her a glass and they toast to each other, “To us!” He leans down to kiss her, “So…about that doghouse I’ve been in?”  
She grins, clinking her glass with his, “All the way out, baby. In fact, you might just get lucky tonight.”  
He raises his eyebrow, “Really?”  
“Well, if you remember how, that is, Mr. Snorey. You’ve been a little distant lately. I kind of miss the Daniel that couldn’t get enough.”  
He has deliberately been avoiding sleeping with her all this time, to protect himself from getting too close, and avoid that terrible loneliness he felt when she first left for London five years ago.  
He is drawn to her now, though. He sees it’s inevitable. He doesn’t want to resist her anymore. He realizes he couldn’t if he tried.   
He steps closer and takes her face in his hands, staring at her intently, “My God, Betty. I just realized I never stopped loving you. All these years, you’ve been with me, in here. I’ve loved you all along. And I always will.” He put her hands on his chest, and looks at her lovingly.  
She is completely swept away by his gaze, his intensity and the sincerity of his words. She breathes softly, “That’s the Daniel Meade I’ve missed. I love you, too.”  
She puts her arm around his neck as he picks her up and takes her to the bed, kissing her neck and face. Once he lays her down gently, she can’t believe how excited she feels, as if somehow it is the beginning of something for him.   
She can’t understand how, after all these years of marriage, he is still looking at her as if she were so special and precious to him.  
It takes her breath away, to see the way he is looking at her now. He has already quickly taken off his shirt and pants and seems to be struggling with getting her dress off.   
She pulls it over her head, after he finishes unzipping it. She laughs, looking into his eyes, which seem dark and filled with passion she has never seen before, even in the five years they’ve been married.   
She can tell he seems somewhat embarrassed at his fumbling. “I…God, I’m sorry, honey. It’s just, I’ve dreamt about this for so long, I want you so much. I’m sorry I’ve been pushing you away all this time. I was scared. I was trying to protect myself.”  
“From me?” She clearly didn’t understand.  
“It’s hard to explain. I felt alone for such a long time before I met you. I…guess part of me is afraid this is all a dream that I’m going to wake up from. You know; my whole life with you, and the kids.   
All of it. And I’ll just go back to being alone again. I don’t think I could handle that feeling now that I’ve seen how wonderful my life can be with you in it, Betty.”  
She is overwhelmed, and re-assures him, “It’s real, Daniel. I’m real. The kids are real. This is your life. The life we both chose. We could have both been alone, and maybe had a little more money, fancier things. But we chose us.”  
He nods, unable to contain his desire for her, to hold back how much he needs her any longer. “I’m so glad we did. I love you so much. I don’t ever want to be alone again, Betty.”  
“You won’t be. I promise.”  
“Promise me again, Betty.”  
“I promise, honey. I’ll always be here.” She kissed him, and pulled him to her as his hands slid around her back, removing the rest of her clothing and looking at her with such love, he felt overwhelmed with such joy, right now.   
He kissed her tenderly as he lovingly caressed her body, and when they finally unite, he tries to hold back the tears he feels welling up inside.   
The next morning, Betty woke in his arms, stretching leisurely, and enjoying the warmth of his chest. “A penny for your thoughts, sweetie.” He said, grinning from ear-to-ear.  
She took a breath, “I feel like…I should give you money for last night. I mean, you’ve always been good. But…that was, amazing! Like, you should be in porn films, if you want to make extra money, babe.”  
He laughed, “Thanks. I think I’ll keep my skills off the screen for now, at least. Besides, if I’m any good, it’s just because I’m in love so much, you bring it out of me, babe.”  
She smiled touching his face, “Aww…after five years of marriage? No complaints, here, either. That’s for sure. But, maybe next time, we don’t need to go a whole month between times. I wouldn’t want you to lose those awesome skills of yours. That would be a real shame.”  
He smiled, running his hand down her arm, and raising his eyebrow, “We do have the hotel until two, you know. I got us a late check-out. You want to start the next year of marriage off with a bang?”  
She moaned, “That was terrible. But…okay. If you insist, I suppose I could be persuaded.” She giggles as he pulls the sheets over them to start kissing her heatedly.  
Over the next few weeks, Daniel is the picture of a happily married man. He plays ‘horsey’ with Jeremy and Rosie, and he and Betty have completely gotten over their previous issues.   
As he is getting ready to leave for work, one morning, when Betty won’t be coming in till later, after dropping off the kids, he starts out the door, only to hear her yell, “Honey, wait!”  
He stops and she runs up to him, jumping into his arms, as he laughs, and they kiss, passionately for some time, as he backs her against the wall next to the front door. She winks, as she tells him, “Have a great day, sweetie!” She grabs his butt, leaving him with a smile.


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A/N: This is a fairly pivotal point in the film, as well as in my story. I’ve decided to go ahead and post this chapter as it is, fairly short.

Daniel was just about to close up the shelter for the night. Betty had left, earlier, to pick up the kids and start dinner (which actually meant she was going by her father’s).  
He heard a car horn and looked up as he was putting on his coat and scarf. He saw a small, grey car stop, parking on the street.   
A fairly tall, thin man stepped out, and Daniel set his jaw at first, then relaxed and smiled, holding out his hand, “Henry! Hi! I heard you hired a friend of mine. Thanks! She’s really a great kid.”  
Henry looked serious, as he shook Daniel’s hand, “Yeah, she is great. Listen, Daniel, do you have a few minutes? I found out something I think you’ll want to hear.”  
Daniel looked at him, curiously, but led him back inside, “Sure, come on in. Have a seat. I’d offer you some coffee, but I already threw it out, sorry.”  
“That’s fine, thanks. Listen, I don’t know if Amelia mentioned this, but the firm I started working for is called P.K. Lassiter & Sons. They are a subsidiary of another firm that used to be based in London. Maybe you’ve heard of it, Waddell and Reid?”  
Daniel’s eyes widened, “Seriously?”  
Henry nodded, “Yes. Daniel, they not only stole money from you, they embezzled from several other firms in Europe over the past five years, then they just closed up shop and disappeared for a while.   
But some of the company’s founders have come to the east coast here to ‘start fresh’. I have enough experience to smell a rat.   
I also don’t like working for crooks, so as soon as I figured out what was going on, I called the FTC and let them know I had discovered prior accounting ledgers that proved these guys were the same ones who ripped off you and a lot of other people.”  
Daniel found his emotions running the gamut between relief, that these guys were finally going to have to pay for what they had done to him, (and others, it seemed), and concern about Amelia.  
“What about Amelia?”  
Henry smiled, leaning back, “I heard you were really different now. I guess I didn’t believe it until I saw it for myself, though. Wow, Betty really has changed you, hasn’t she?   
The ‘old Daniel’ I remember would probably have been more worried about getting his own money back than about the welfare of a young girl he barely knew and had helped a lot already.   
Don’t worry about Amelia. I already told her, I’ve got another job I was considering instead of this one. I contacted them and I’ll make sure she comes with me. She’s a really hard worker and very smart. Reminds me of myself when I worked at Mode.”  
Daniel gave him a half-hearted smile, “How have you been? How’s little Nate? Did you and uh…Charlie ever…?”  
Henry shook his head, “No, I found out she had uh…slept around. The orthodontist was just one of many. But, she has a job in Brooklyn. She ended up becoming a dental hygienist. She’s a good mom. We share custody. But, as far as…marriage, I never actually found anybody.”  
He looked down, “I guess…meeting someone like Betty sort of ruined me for other women. She’s special. You’re a very lucky man, Daniel.”  
He didn’t know what to say. “I know I am. Very lucky. I’m sorry things with Charlie didn’t work out for you.”  
He looked at Daniel, “Probably not THAT sorry. You got the girl, after all.”  
Daniel smiled, nodding, “Touche. I guess you’re right. I do hope you find somebody at least half as good as Betty, Henry. I know you never really meant to hurt her. It was just incredibly bad timing for you two.”  
“My loss, your gain, huh? Actually,… just recently, I finally did meet someone. Ironically, I have you to thank for ‘introducing us’ so to speak.” He smiled.  
Daniel’s eyes widened, “Amelia? Well, hell, you’re younger than I am. There’s less of an age difference between you two than there is between me and Betty, I guess. Congratulations! She’s a real sweetheart. You must like Queen’s College Alumni, huh?” he teased.  
Henry shrugged, reddening slightly, “Evidently. So, Daniel, I decided I’d come share some information you might be interested in.   
It’s something I didn’t tell the feds. I thought I’d show you first, since it relates to your family, in a way.”  
“My family?”  
“Well, your mom’s and your uh…half-brother, anyway.   
It seems the original firm of Waddell and Reid went off the radar, right after they soaked you. But I found receipts and deposits that tied them with P.K. Lassiter.  
Then, I also saw that there were huge transactions between the new Lassiter firm and a big publishing empire based in Manhattan. One you know quite well. Owned by…”  
“Hartley industries.” Daniel finished for him, shaking his head. “I KNEW something wasn’t right! But wait, when did this all go down? I mean, Cal isn’t…really aware.”  
Henry shook his head, “Not that Hartley. One who came back to New York briefly when he first heard his about his father’s illness. Then, found out he would be sharing the wealth with a new kid in town from South Dakota, also related to you.   
I’m betting he found out around the same time that you and Betty had gotten married and were expecting your first child in London.”  
“MATT! Of course! It makes sense. So, he went to Europe, and started the whole ‘Waddell and Reid’ scam, not even caring that he was ripping other people off, besides me?   
I get that with me, it was about jealousy, more than the money. But what about the others? Why would he want to steal from them? He was already rich to begin with.”  
Henry shrugged, “That was the people he aligned himself with, getting greedy, I imagine.   
I have a feeling Matt is getting really nervous, about now, once he finds out the people he thought he had bought off years ago with your millions already blew through it all and are here in New York, trying to come back for more.   
And that they can bring him down. I wouldn’t be surprised if one of those guys tries to blackmail him.”  
“Yeah, do you have…something I can use to prove this, Henry? Something I can use to put a little fear into Matt?”  
Henry nodded, taking out a flash drive. “I do. This has copies of all the files I mentioned. Spreadsheet ledgers for both companies that include deposits from Hartley directly to Lassiter.   
And bank records that identify Lassiter as one and the same as Waddell and Reid.”  
“Thanks, Henry.”  
Henry smiled, putting his hands in his pockets. “Yeah. Well, It was nice seeing you, Daniel.” He stood up, ready to leave.  
Daniel pulled him in for a hug, “Thanks, Henry. You don’t know what this means to me. Betty’s been so supportive all this time, never complaining when I lost everything. But, this will help me give her the life she and the kids deserve.”  
Henry nodded, “Yeah, I can’t say I didn’t think of that. Anyway, good luck, Daniel. If you can’t persuade Matt to give up willingly, let him know I have other copies of course that I can always turn in to the authorities.   
I just figured, after what he pulled, you deserved to see the look on his face.   
I’m not the only guy who hurt Betty. At least, I didn’t leave her voluntarily like he did. And this…well, he didn’t just do it to you. I figure he took from Betty and your kids, too. I know I hurt her, but…I didn’t do it deliberately.”  
Daniel could see he was getting choked up, “I know you didn’t. You just wanted to be a good dad to your son. And you did come back and propose to her. She’s okay now, Henry.   
And you’re right; Matt did hurt her. Hell, so have I, many times. We all have. None of us really deserved her. I just…got lucky this time around.   
I could have just as easily let her slip through my fingers and been left alone, believe me. I know how that would feel, to lose a woman like Betty.”  
On the way home, Daniel felt excited and hopeful. He couldn’t wait to go to Matt, and let him know his past had come to find him. He would have to step down.   
Something this big could put all of Hartley Industries under suspicion. And Daniel was certain he could find a way to get Meade Publications back on the map.   
The only problem was how much time it would take him away from Betty and the kids. But, this was for all of them. This wasn’t just about right now.   
He wanted to not only be a good father and husband, but see that he didn’t lose his own father’s business empire in the process. Now, he wanted back what was his family’s. What rightfully belonged to him, to Betty, and to their children.


	10. Chapter 10

The next day, Daniel put on the Gucci suit Betty had bought him for their anniversary, and borrowed his mother’s car. He wasn’t showing up at the ‘Hartley’ building and getting thrown out into the street this time, he thought.  
He dropped the kids off and told Betty he had an errand in the city. He pulled up, shaking his head in disgust at the Hartley name, determined to get it changed back to Meade again, no matter what it took.  
He tossed his mother’s keys casually to the valet out of habit, who looked slightly puzzled as to who he was, but he walked confidently into the building, as if he owned it.  
He told the security guard he was Cal Hartley’s son-in-law (true enough), and he was here to surprise his step-brother, Matt and possibly take him out for lunch if he was free. (gah! He hadn’t really thought about that one!).  
This guard was older than the one who had been working on Christmas and actually recognized Daniel, “Mr. Meade! It’s been a long time! How are you and the wife? And your mom and Mr. Hartley? Tell her we’re all lighting a candle for him at St. Matthews, will you? Terrible thing. My brother has the same thing. All that money, and none of it can help him!” He shook his head in sympathy.  
Daniel nodded, “Thanks, Sam! I’ll tell my mom you said hello. That’s very nice of you.”  
Once again, luck was on his side as it seemed Matt’s taste in receptionists was similar to Daniel’s in assistants. The girl at the desk could have been a clone of Betty, back when she still had her glasses. “Uh, Ruthie? Hello!  
Remember me? It’s Daniel. Daniel Meade. I came to say hi to my step-bro and see if he’s free for lunch while I’m in the city. Is he in?”  
She led him into the office that used to be his until his little incident and saw not too much had changed. He did notice a pair of women’s panties on a plant.  
(He assumed NOT Ruthie’s! Matt’s assistant, perhaps?) He shook his head. Matt seemed to be in the conference room, when Daniel first arrived.  
He made himself comfortable, in his old chair. Well, Matt’s new, ergonomically designed chair, to be precise. The office décor was a little on the tacky side, Daniel thought to himself. But then again, Matt never did know much about fashion, he remembered.  
“Excuse me? Who the hell do you think…oh, it’s YOU!” Daniel smiled as he swiveled when Matt came in.  
”Matthew! What a pleasant surprise! Please, come in, make yourself comfortable. Although, it seems you’ve already been doing that, haven’t you?”  
Wilhelmina came rushing in, “Matthew, this is beyond ridiculous, if you honestly expect me to work with this kind of budget! I can’t be held responsible for the… Daniel!  
What are you doing here?” She eyed him carefully, “In last season’s Gucci, no less? What, the Goodwill didn’t have your size in anything up-to-date?”  
Daniel didn’t bite. He just nodded, “Willi. How are Connor and the kids?”  
“Connor? Connor Owens? I haven’t seen that son-of-a-bitch in five years! What made you think of him? And what kids? What’s this about? You have no authority here anymore. Your shares in this company aren’t enough to warrant…”  
“Oh, this is family business, Wilhelmina. I’m here to have a nice little chat with my step-brother. If he’s a nice boy, I might even feed him.”  
Matt eyed Daniel suspiciously, and turned to Wilhelmina, “Willi, can you give us a minute, please? I’ll uh…get back to you on the budget.”  
“Make it quick. I need to book the photographer before he jets off to Africa again. Unless you still have contacts there!”  
She smiled, (or bared her teeth), and nodded at Daniel, “Daniel. Good to see you again, Do give my regards to Betty and uh…Claire, of course.”  
“A pleasure as always, Willi.”  
Daniel got up and gestured to the chair, “Please, don’t let me take your seat, Matt. We have a few things to get straight. Make yourself comfortable.” He shut the door as Matt sat down slowly.  
Daniel laughed, and took a pen, tossing the women’s panties at Matt with them, much as his father had on his first day at work,  
“Interesting decorating motif, Matthew. Me, I don’t need to do that kind of stuff anymore. Now that I’ve got a great wife like Betty who loves me, I don’t need to try and fill up the empty, lonely nights with bimbos.  
Instead of going home to an empty apartment, I’ve got a house full of kids. They’re adorable. They look just like Betty. Only with my eyes, of course. Would you like to see a picture of us as a family?”  
He could tell Matt was really getting pissed off, “What the HELL do you want, Meade? Fine, you got Betty. She wasn’t willing to wait for me and you stole her while I was off like an idiot trying to do something to feel good enough for her! Now you come here to rub it in my face?  
Good for you! I hope you’ll both be very happy! You and Betty and your perfect little family and my dad with your mom and the cowboy bastard that came to take away what little relationship I had with my dad! I hope you’ll all be very happy together!”  
Daniel didn’t react, but stood his ground, calmly, “Yes, but…you did get something that doesn’t belong to you, didn’t you, Matt? I love Betty and she and I knew each other way before you even showed up in the first place, so how you see that as me STEALING her from you, when you are the idiot who left her behind, I don’t get.  
But, we both know that’s not what I’m talking about. I have proof that links Hartley Industries with PK Lassiter and a little company called Waddell and Reid. The same place that cleaned me out in London, remember?”  
He stood over Matt’s chair, looking down at him and waving the flash drive, “It just so happens I know a very good accountant at Lassiter that found deposits from Hartley Industries. Big ones. You were the one who sought out the crooks at Waddell and Reid and put them onto me in the first place in London, aren’t you, Matt?  
Because you were jealous of me and Betty being happy and you didn’t like being associated with my family by your dad marrying my mom and you definitely didn’t like sharing your inheritance with Tyler, right?”  
Matt stood up, his eyes blazing, “NO! I didn’t deserve to get shoved aside like that. I went off to try and do something good and I come back and everyone has just forgotten all about me, including Betty! And you!  
You get to still keep the Meade name here, while you and Betty start a new life in London, you knock her up. My poor dad was already out of it by then. He re-wrote his will and named you and Tyler equally with me!  
What the hell is that? I’m his only son for thirty-three years and all of a sudden, you and that hillbilly get a cut, just because he started screwing your mom again?”  
That did it, Daniel decided this time, he’d go for Matt’s right side when he clocked him. He was surprised no security guards came to take him out of the building. Matt struggled to get up, and brushed Daniel aside when he tried to actually help him up.  
He touched the side of his face, wincing in pain, glancing at the flash drive, “You’ve got proof of what? That a huge company like Hartley Industries unknowingly did business with a firm that ended up being bogus years ago?  
We got scammed, too. Besides, that was probably still before my dad had to step down. He already didn’t realize what he was getting involved in, most likely.”  
He tried to sound sure of himself, but Daniel wasn’t buying it. “Nice try, Hartley. But it’s YOUR signature on those deposits, not your dad’s. I’d recognize that chicken scratch of yours anywhere from all the little love notes you wrote Betty.  
And you can deny it all you want; my associate will be sharing this information with the feds any minute now, if he doesn’t hear from me that you stepped down willingly.  
So, the way I see it, this can go down one of two ways. Number one, you step down, and actually co-operate with helping me get my rightful shares back and put the Meade name back up on this building, like it should have been all along.  
Or…I turn you in and we see how well you do in prison. I’m sure my mom can tell you how great that was. I had a little taste myself and didn’t care for it much.”  
He took a deep breath, seemingly weighing his options, “Fine, but once I get you back here, I want all the copies you have of those. I’ll just disappear for a while.  
I have connections. You know, this job isn’t all it’s cracked up to be, Daniel. Oh, or should I call you Dan? I heard you were a big deal in Queens now. All the locals love you.”  
Daniel couldn’t resist one more dig, in retribution, “Well, I know Betty sure does. She’s from Queens. So… how about getting out of MY chair now?”  
“Be my guest. I’m getting tired of all this responsibility, anyway. I think I’m going to take it easy for a while. Get some sun.”  
Daniel laughed, “Man, you never change, do you? Always on to something else. I’m surprised you stayed here as long as you did. You never did figure out what you wanted to be once you grew up, huh, Matt? Maybe because you’ll never grow up!”  
“Whatever, ‘Dan the man’! You may THINK you won this time, but I guarantee, you’ll find a way to screw it up. You always do. No wonder your old man preferred your freak of a sister. Or is that brother? I can never remember.”  
“Get out of MY office, Hartley! Before I have you thrown out! Believe me, you wouldn’t like that. But, before you leave, we need to do some paperwork to make the necessary change and I’ll call Henry and let him know you co-operated.”  
“Henry? Henry Grubstick? He’s the one who ratted me out?”  
Daniel smiled, “Yeah, it seems like the perfect ending to this little scenario, doesn’t it? One guy who screwed things up with my wife helps me get back what the other one who did the same thing stole from me. Oh, and plus, I got the girl, too!”  
Betty was pacing the floor. Finally, late at night, she ran to the door when Daniel walked in, “Daniel! Thank God! I’ve been so worried! You texted hours ago and said you had great news, but then I haven’t heard from you all night! I’ve been frantic. What happened?”  
He grinned, wearily, grabbing her and spinning her around, “I did it, Betty! I got our money back. Hartley is stepping down to go find himself in an ashram in India or some nonsense. Look, it’s a long story, honey. But let’s just say, we might need to invite Henry to dinner with his new girlfriend sometime to thank him.”  
“Henry? Henry Grubstick? What’s he got to do with anything? And who’s his new girlfriend?”  
“Amelia.”  
“Amelia…from the shelter? Oh, that’s right. You said she started working with Henry. That’s great. But how did Henry get our money back? And why are you so late? It’s almost nine thirty, Daniel!”  
He sat her down and told her the whole story. She sighed, shaking her head. “That’s so weird! I can’t believe Matt would do something so devious! But, wait, I don’t understand, Daniel. You didn’t turn him in?”  
He shook his head, “No, because he knows as well as I do, if I did, I’d probably never see a dime of my money for a very long time. His lawyers would tie up everything in court for years.  
This way, he gets off with a slap on the wrist, and is exiled. Mainly, he just loses the money and power he took. He’s still going to be rich as hell. This way, Hartley goes back to the way it was, and he still gets his rightful third of that.  
He’s going to probably hide out somewhere from the crooks he did business with in London, though. Hell, who knows, maybe he’ll head back to Africa. Who cares?  
In the meantime, I got my name back on as CEO of Meade Publications, which we will put back on the building as soon as possible, simple as that, Betty! Our kids and grandkids won’t have to ever see any name but ours up there.”  
She looked at him, “That’s wonderful, Daniel. I know what Matt did was terrible. I agree that it’s great that you have back what he stole. And I don’t mean to point out the obvious. But…what about our life here? What about the shelter? All the people we’ve been helping?  
I’m just concerned that once you are actually working as the CEO at Meade, you’ll always be this late getting home. Honey, the kids went to bed over an hour ago! You never even got to see them today. Rosie lost her first tooth. Jeremy said his first word.”  
Daniel looked at her in disbelief, “You’re kidding? Both of those things happened on the one night I’m working late?”  
“Well, okay, maybe I was exaggerating a little, but Rosie did lose a tooth today and Jeremy, well he said ‘Gleeb’, but still…it’s the principal, Daniel. I’m worried that you’re going to be so pre-occupied with seeing your name back on that building that we are never going to see you!”  
He sighed. “Look, today was just the beginning. I’m not going to be working this late every night. Well, I might have to work pretty late in the beginning, at least until I get things back on track.  
But, Betty, this is for us, honey. This is so Rosie and Jeremy can…”  
“Can what, Daniel? See the name ‘Meade’ on some building downtown that steals their daddy away from them? Do you think they’re going to care that it says their last name instead of the man they only know as the sweet, confused grandpa Cal is to them?  
Look, I understand why you feel the need to get back what Matt took. I even get that you feel like you have to restore something your own dad worked so hard for, Daniel. I get that, honey.”  
“Yes, Betty. As a man, I feel like I need to provide a better way of life for you and my family.”  
“But that’s just it, Daniel. Is it better? Is it really? So, the kids don’t go to some fancy private school downtown? So, they don’t go to Harvard like you did. So, we don’t have a fancy car and designer clothes. I know you grew up with those things. But, did any of them make you happy?  
I thought we were happy with the way things are, right now. I know this life isn’t what either of us dreamed of or imagined when we first met, but…I love our life, Daniel.  
Just as it is right now. I thought you did, too. I’m afraid if we mess around with it, we’ll end up just like your parents. They loved each other, too, when they first got married.  
But all the long hours he put in…it wore on him. It made him greedy. He got lonely at work, and well, you know.”  
“Is that it? You’re worried if I’m working at an office all day instead of at the shelter I’m going to cheat on you?”  
She was fighting tears now, “I don’t know, Daniel. All I know is, you were a very different man when I first met you at Mode. You weren’t exactly the family man I know and love now.  
I guess I’m just afraid if you go back to that lifestyle, you’ll stop being the man I married and turn into that Daniel again. The one who sleeps around; the one who cares about what he looks like on the outside more than who he is on the inside.”  
“You mean, like my dad.”


	11. Chapter 11

After a few short weeks, Daniel found he felt like he had in his ‘old life’; more ‘comfortable’ in many ways, but lonely and lost. He knew Betty was trying to support his decision to pursue the restoration of his family name and all he (or Dan) had lost to Matt.  
Unfortunately, it became increasingly clear; he couldn’t work this hard and still spend any kind of quality time with his young family or his wife. She came to the office often and brought the kids, trying to keep them together as much as possible.   
She also managed the shelter alone, hiring some of the people served there to help out in Daniel’s absence, still not absolutely sure if he ever intended on coming back.  
But to her credit, Betty didn’t question his decision; she simply supported him, listening to all his complaints about trying to get everyone at “Meade” on board with Daniel’s return to power and the transition.  
He came home, on February fourteenth, late again. As he entered the door, he saw Betty, asleep at the dining room table. He shook his head, seeing she had prepared a quiet, romantic dinner, apparently getting instructions from her father, as he saw his father-in-law’s notes on how to make one of Ignacio’s tamale recipes, as well as a cheesecake she knew Daniel liked.   
He looked down at her, dressed in a sexy red dress she knew he liked. He blew out the candles and reached down, picking her up, as he grabbed a bite of tamale.  
She moaned, wrapping her arms around his neck in her sleep, and leaning against his chest, “Mm…Daniel. Happy Valentine’s Day, honey. You’re home. I’m sorry, I tried to wait up.”  
He was close to tears, “Shh…Betty. You don’t apologize, sweetie. I’m the one who should be apologizing. First, I forget our anniversary. Now this! You’re so amazing. I’m really sorry, babe.   
I…got caught up at work again and just lost track of time. I know that’s no excuse. You’ve been so patient with me. I don’t deserve you.” He kissed her neck as he carried her upstairs to their bedroom and laid her down, then covered her up, while he got undressed.   
He looked at himself, wearing a new, ‘in-season’ Armani suit. Then, he opened his closet and saw his newer clothing since going back to work at Meade, compared to Betty’s meager wardrobe for working at the shelter and taking care of the kids.  
He looked at himself in the mirror. Was this really what he wanted? After taking on this role, he had quickly realized; it was never going to be a job where he could come home from at a reasonable hour. There was just too much to oversee.   
Even when he tried to delegate the responsibilities as much as he possibly could, there was no way he was ever going to be coming home soon enough to be the kind of husband and father he wanted to be.   
Instead, he was fast turning into the father he hated. The kind of husband and father his own had been. The kind of father that was never there for his family.  
He hadn’t been tempted by infidelity, like his own father eventually had, but he hadn’t been able to have any time with his wife, either.   
She was exhausted, too, he knew, taking on the responsibilities he had once shared with her both at the shelter and at home. She had simply taken over and not once complained.   
He stripped to his boxers and climbed in bed, wrapping his arm around Betty, stroking his hand up her arm, kissing her cheek, softly. “I love you, Betty. Happy Valentine’s Day.   
I’ll make it up to you, I promise. Even more than I did for forgetting your birthday. Thanks for believing in me, sweetheart.”  
When he woke the next morning, at first he was alone. He blinked, in a panic, thinking he was back in his solitary life, and he had lost Betty and the kids. But, he looked closely and saw he was still in their bedroom in Queens.  
He heard voices downstairs; then saw Betty coming in to the bedroom, carrying a tray with French toast, strawberries, and coffee. He started to get up but she shook her head,   
“I’ve got it, sweetie. Just stay in bed. I called Bobby to come and take the kids next door to play with Sherry and he said they were welcome to spend the day. I thought we needed some time alone. I’m sorry I fell asleep last night. Thanks for carrying me upstairs.”  
He shook his head, as she set down the tray and popped a strawberry into his mouth. When he finished eating it he smiled, leaning his forehead against hers. “Betty, don’t. I don’t deserve all this, honey. I’m a terrible husband. I can’t believe I did it again. You must hate me. I forget your birthday, and you forgave me.   
Then, I just arbitrarily tell you I’m going to get back the money I lost in the first place, and even though you don’t really agree with me, you still support me, and now…I can see you were right. I’m going to talk to my mom and see if she thinks Tyler can step up and take some of the slack.  
He finished his MBA at NYU. He may not have grown up in New York, but he’s a bright guy. And I think, in some ways, him taking a role is a good thing. I’ve even decided to go with my mom’s original idea of making the sign on our building read “Meade-Hartley”.   
It’s time I put my family ahead of pride, or whatever I think I deserve as Bradford Meade’s son. First of all, I’m your husband and the father to our children. Everything else should come second to that in whatever decisions I make. I miss you, Betty. I miss the kids.   
I know you’ve been trying to bring them downtown, to me, but…I realize; that’s just not enough. God help me, I miss home, too. I never thought I’d hear myself say this, but I actually miss Queens!” he laughed. “Anywhere is home where you and Rosie and Jeremy are.”  
She didn’t say anything, but listened to him, feeding him. Finally, she pulled out an airline ticket, and showed it to him, “What’s this?” he looked at it closely. “A one way from New York to London. This is my ticket.” He had followed her to London.  
She nodded. “I kept it. When you told me I should take the job at Dunne and I got on that plane, I thought I was never going to see you again. I cried myself to sleep. I was a wreck those first few days, thinking I had made the worst decision of my life.  
Then, when you showed up in London a few days later and told me you had stepped down from Mode, I couldn’t believe you would do something like that for me, for us, Daniel.  
It showed me how much you really loved me. How much you believed in us. You could have stayed in New York and moved on, forgotten all about me. But, you didn’t. You chose us.”  
He closed his eyes, blinking back the tears, kissing her shoulder, as he held her in front of him, “You’re wrong, about one thing, Betty. I could NEVER forget about you. Letting you get back on that plane in the first place was the biggest mistake I ever made in my life.”  
She nodded, “Anyway, every day, since then, I keep telling myself that no matter what, we would make it. That because you chose us, I would always do the same. I would try and show you that you had made the right choice.”  
He nodded, “I want you to know, I will always choose us, Betty, from now on. You’re the best thing that ever happened to me.   
I know what’s important in my life. And it’s you. I don’t care about anything else. We could be living in a box on the street, and if you were with me, I’d still be the luckiest guy on the planet.”  
She smiled, and kissed him. He grinned, “Mm…you taste like syrup and strawberries.  
“Do you need more syrup?” She asked, playfully.  
He nodded, “Definitely. So do you.”  
“Where do you want it?” she held the syrup up, raising her eyebrows suggestively.  
He put his hand over hers, “Everywhere.” He said, looking into her eyes.  
Over the following several weeks, things got better between Daniel and Betty. Tyler started sharing some of the duties, and Daniel gradually spent less and less time at the office and more at home, with his family.  
He drove up to the shelter one afternoon with some supplies, and noticed a Mercedes in the parking area. He saw that Betty’s old car was still there, so he knew she must surely not have left yet to go pick up the kids.  
He opened the door and saw Matt, leaning over Betty, as she talked and they laughed, together. “Honey, I’m back.” He said, simply, trying not to let Matt see how bothered he was to find him there, talking and laughing with his wife.   
As much as Daniel hated to admit it, he couldn’t help be somewhat intimidated by the fact that, Betty didn’t leave Matt, he left her.   
So, what did that mean? He knew she loved him, of course, she had proved that time after time. But, did she still have feelings for Matt, too?  
“Dan! I mean, Daniel, honey! I wasn’t sure when you’d be back. Uh…Matt was just leaving. He just came by to apologize and to tell my personally how much he regrets everything he did to us.”  
“Good. Thanks for that. That makes everything we went through for five years all better now. Well, have a nice life. Or don’t. Don’t let the door hit you on the way out, Matt. Bye bye, now.” Daniel didn’t try to hide his contempt for the man.  
Matt smiled, slyly, “Of course. I can see how my being here with Betty might upset you, ‘Dan’.   
I just felt she and I had some unfinished business, since I left her to go try and be the man I thought she deserved. I wanted to let her know, I never meant to hurt her.”  
“Great. You told her. Now, leave. Your business with my family is done. Unless you want to spend time where you really belong, in jail, Matt, I suggest you stay away from my wife in the future.   
You DID leave Betty. Then you stole from us, from me and her, and our children. You need to leave. Now. Are we clear?”  
“Daniel. It’s okay. He honestly just came and apologized. Nothing else. Matt, he’s right. You need to leave. I appreciate you telling me you’re sorry, but you should go now.”  
He smiled, “Sure, Betty. It was great seeing you again, sweetie.” He went to kiss her, but Daniel wasn’t in the mood to put up with Matt’s obvious attempts to piss him off, and he knocked him away from Betty and onto the ground.   
“Daniel! Get up! Stop! Matt, just leave.” She helped Daniel up and gave Matt a warning look.   
“Sorry, Betty. I was just going to kiss you goodbye. He didn’t have to flip out like that. He’s always overreacting. I should have had him brought up on assault charges, this makes three times. You married a violent man.”  
“Funny, he’s only ever hit you, Matt. There’s got to be a reason. Look, you said you were sorry. Leave it at that. You don’t need to kiss me. Just get out. Goodbye!” She was clearly getting impatient with him.  
He left, and Daniel looked at her, as she tended to his red jaw, where Matt had hit him back as they tussled on the floor briefly. She went to get him some ice and came back, sitting down across from him. He stared into her eyes, “Do you still love him?”  
“What? Of course not! Don’t be ridiculous, Daniel. I love you.”  
“Why were you two all cozy here, laughing together, then, Betty?”  
She blew out a breath. “Daniel, he came to say he was sorry. Period. You caught us talking for a few minutes and him saying something about his mother that I laughed at. That’s all there was to it. I would never, never, never cheat on you. And with him? After what he did to you? To us? There’s no way!   
Look, after five years of marriage, while I think it’s adorable and even kind of sexy that you are still jealous, there’s no need for you to be, Daniel.   
Don’t think I don’t notice how much Gina flirts with you all the time and comes onto you. But, do I let it bother me?   
No, because I trust you. Well, it still makes me want to slap her silly sometimes, but I know; that unlike your father, you would never be unfaithful.   
Because you have integrity, and I know you love me. You’ve proven how much you love me and hopefully, I’ve proven I love you, just as much. So, is this conversation over, killer?   
Or…maybe I need to show you just how much YOU mean to me?” She smiled, sitting on his lap, holding his face in her hands as she leaned closer.  
He smiled, “That sounds promising. By all means, show me, Mrs. Meade.”  
She got next to his lips and whispered, “Whatever you say, honey.”  
Betty woke up the next morning, alone. She heard sounds from outside and saw Daniel, playing with Rosie in the snow. She smiled at them, rolling around, making snow angels.  
Rosa looked at her father and put her hands on his cheeks, smiling at him, “There you are, daddy. I knew you’d come back.”  
He just grinned, and hugged her. “I love you, Rosie.”  
Later that evening, he was going through things in the garage, and noticed he needed to get more salt for the sidewalks, when he heard Rosie’s bell. He turned, thinking it sounded ominous for some reason.   
“Rosie? What are you doing, honey?”  
“Nothing, Daddy. Just ringing my bell you got me.”  
“Okay. Tell Mommy I’ll be right back. I’m going to the store to get some more salt.”   
“Okay, Daddy.” She turned her trike around and rode away.   
He tried to calm his nerves. It was just a stupid bicycle bell. Yes, Cash had given it to him. But that was a long time ago. This was his life now. He was a husband and a father. This was real. That other life wasn’t him anymore.   
He took a deep breath and drove to the local market and saw the bags of salt and shook his head at how expensive they were. He had forgotten all about the bell, until he saw who was at the register. “Cash!”


	12. Chapter 12

Daniel watched as Cash rang up a young girl’s purchase, noting the fact that she failed to let him know when he ‘accidentally’ gave her too much change. When the young woman left, thinking she had gotten a ‘good deal’, Cash replaced the missing money and shook his head, sadly, “Look at that! Integrity! And for what? Nine dollars? So sad! Hey, Dan! So, look at you, all domestic and shit!  
It looks like you figured out some things, huh? That’s great! I knew you’d come around eventually. I had hope for you.”  
Daniel glared at him, “You can’t just go coming in and out of people’s lives, like this, messing things up! I’ve got a family! I’m not leaving!”  
Cash looked at him, almost sympathetically, but shook his head, “A glimpse by definition is an impermanent thing, Daniel.”  
Daniel slammed down the money for the salt and left, angrily looking back at Cash, “I’m staying here. I’ve got kids!”  
He went home and checked on Jeremy, touching his cheek gently, putting two fingers to his lips then touching them to his son’s forehead, looking at him sadly, “Bye, buddy. Daddy loves you, little man.”  
He walked into Rosie’s room and picked up her tutu, smiling, as he remembered seeing her trying her best to dance, but falling a few times. He hung up her ballet slippers, and put a few toys into place, then sat by her bed, taking her hand. She stirred, her eyes still closed, “Daddy, is it time to get up?”  
He shook his head, brushing back her hair, “No, baby. It’s still night time. Go back to sleep. I think it’s time for me to go back to the mother ship.” He leaned forward and kissed her forehead, then paused at her door to look back at her, lovingly.  
He sighed, going into his and Betty’s bedroom, where she was still reading. “Hey. Are you okay?”  
He nodded, and sat on the side of the bed, still wearing his coat, “I just took Lucy out. I uh…want to tell you how much you mean to me, Betty. I love you so much; it literally hurts to think of ever having to live without you again. I need you to know that. I wish…I had all the time back that I wasted before we were together.”  
He took her hand and kissed it. She could see he was upset. She hugged him, “Daniel, please tell me what’s wrong. Are you sure you’re…okay? You’re not sick?”  
He shook his head, as she held his face to her chest and ran her hand through his hair. “No. I’m not sick. I just want you to remember that you promised me you’d never leave me alone.  
Remember how much I love you. Otherwise…it’ll be like this never happened and I don’t think I could take that, Betty. Tell me you’ll remember what you promised me, okay?”  
She was listening to music and he lay down next to her, as ‘Chasing Cars’ came on, he turned to her, “You promise?”  
She nodded, and kissed him, “I promise, Daniel. I’ll never leave you. You won’t have to be alone again ever, sweetie. Now, take your coat off and come to bed, okay?”  
He nodded, and pulled off his coat, hugging her tightly to him and kissing her face, trying not to cry as he held her against him. Once she was asleep, he studied her carefully; trying to remember every curve of her face, fighting to keep his eyes open as long as he could.  
He heard his phone buzzing and groggily answered it, “Hello?”  
“Hey, Santa Clause! Where are you? You have an early meeting, before you catch your flight to go woo the new advertisers in Aspen today, remember?”  
“Remember? Who is this?”  
“Uh, Amanda, your assistant. Daniel? Is any of this ringing any bells, sleepy head? Did you get drunk last night?”  
“Amanda? Bells? Oh, crap. I’m here. Okay, hang on. I’ll be there in twenty minutes.” He rubbed his hand over his face, looking around wearily at his empty townhouse, then closing his eyes, and grabbing a pillow to ease the pain.  
Suddenly, he sat up, remembering he had her number. He started dressing quickly, throwing on casual slacks and a tee shirt, with a leather bomber jacket, as he called Amanda back.  
“Amanda, it’s me again. Is my trash can empty from last night?”  
“Is this a trick question?”  
“NO! Please check for me. I need the number Betty called from on that message from…uh last night. Could you see if it’s in there, Amanda?”  
“Not in a million years, Daniel.”  
“Come on, it’s just paper. It’s not like I’m asking you to go dumpster diving. Where’s Marc? I know for a fact he DID do dumpster diving for his diva back in the day, maybe you can persuade him to do it for you.  
I NEED that number, Mandy, please? Listen, I’ll give you a raise and an extra month maternity leave, just get me Betty’s number, okay?”  
“Fine, but if I break a nail or harm my baby! You know, uncle papi still lives in the same house in Queens, Daniel, if you’re that desperate to track her down. I thought you said the past was in the past.”  
“That was a long time ago.”  
“It was last night!”  
“Well, it’s been a really long night for me. Call me when you get it. I’ll be a little later getting in.”  
He headed out the door and there stood Jennifer, in a long, winter coat. He stepped back, “Julie!”  
“Jennifer.”  
“Right, Merry Christmas, Jennifer. How have you been?”  
“Great. I came. I brought my own mistletoe, Daniel. Did you get the egg nog?” She opened her coat, revealing a lacey red teddy, as she held mistletoe over her head.  
Daniel rushed past her out the door, “Sorry, thanks, but I’m a married man.”  
“Married? Since last night?”  
He shrugged, as he looked back at her, “It was a really long night.”  
When he got outside, he looked at his Ferrari and smiled, “Well, there are SOME things I missed!” he sped off, headed towards Queens, in case he needed to find out from Ignacio where his daughter was lately. His phone rang, “Amanda! You found it?”  
“Of course. I made one of the interns dig through your trash. I’m not that stupid.”  
He got Betty’s number and was surprised her assistant actually answered on Christmas. He got the address, a local Manhattan one.  
Once he arrived, he saw that it was an office, which Betty and her assistant were packing up. He stopped, blown away by how gorgeous she had become. Her hair was shorter, cut towards her face, and she was wearing all black, but still had her B necklace.  
She was all business, but still kind, speaking to the movers, “Please be careful of that painting. It’s very valuable. Thanks so much for this. So sorry to make you work on Christmas!”  
“B, you’re paying them a fortune, don’t sweat it!” Her assistant shrugged, busy on the phone and computer.  
“Betty?”  
She turned, and looked surprised to see him, “Daniel! Hello! Uh, Merry Christmas!”  
“Merry Christmas. Amanda said you called?” He felt his heart racing, wondering why she might have called after all this time. He hoped perhaps she was wondering about ‘the one that got away’, having regrets.  
“I did? Shannon, did I call Daniel? Did you call him about something?”  
“Isn’t he the one you had the jewelry and perfume bottle from?” her assistant reminded her.  
“Oh, that’s right. Here, sorry. I’ve been so busy, I almost forgot. I had this with my stuff somehow. But, since it belongs to your mother, I wanted to get it back to you before I left. I don’t remember how I even still had it.”  
She handed him a bracelet of Claire’s he vaguely recognized and the now empty designer bottle that had contained the poison perfume that had saved his mother from prison. He took the items, looking at them fondly, then dropped him in his pocket and grabbed her hand.  
“You’re leaving today? Back to London? I thought you might be moving back to New York, or at least here for a while.”  
She shook her head, smiling, “No, actually, I’m getting transferred to Paris.”  
“Paris? Wow! Paris, France?” He felt like an idiot, the minute it came out of his mouth.  
She merely smiled, “That’s the one.”  
He walked closer, “So, Betty. Did you ever get married?”  
She shook her head, staring at him, rather intently, “No, God, too busy working all the time; you?  
He looked down at his left hand, now bare again, “Not… exactly. Listen, can you take a minute? Get a cup of coffee with me, please?”  
“I’ll have some coffee!” her beleaguered assistant called out, from behind boxes.  
“Betty?”  
She looked around at the chaos from the move, “I’m sorry, I wish I could, Daniel. I really need to get everything packed up like, yesterday! I tell you what, if you’re ever in Paris, look me up, and I’ll take you up on that coffee.  
Or café, or café au lait!” She stepped into a stack of boxes, as she gestured, knocking over a pile of them, then bending to pick them up.  
Her assistant walked over to her, rolling her eyes, as she picked up some of the boxes, and handed Betty a piece of paper, “Here, I got your flight. It’s Air France, at seven! Am I good or what?”  
“You’re amazing. Now get out of here, Shannon, before I cry. Thanks, again for everything! It was good to see you, one last time.” She hugged her.  
“You, too, ex-boss. Au revoir!” She brushed past Daniel.  
“So…that’s no to coffee, then? Come on, not even coffee? How long will you be gone?”  
“I’m moving there, Daniel. Permanently.”  
“Oh. I see. You speak French?”  
“Oui. Un peut. Of course, I’ll need to brush up, but I’m sure once I’m there, it’ll come back to me. It’s on my resume. Didn’t you ever read it?”  
He smiled, “Of course. I just forgot you spoke French, that’s all. That’s right. You did help me translate for DJ a little. I remember, now.”  
“How is DJ?”  
“Good. I saw him on his birthday. I’ve been to Paris a few times to visit him and Alexis.”  
There was a tension between them. Betty seemed drawn to him, but something held her back. He could tell she was fighting her own inner battle to go with him. She turned back to helping the movers organize her things as Daniel watched, unwilling to just walk out of her life again.  
After several minutes of directing them frantically, she turned to him, smiling, “I’m sorry, Daniel. I really need to deal with this right now. It was nice seeing you again, but…I’m just really busy right now. Definitely come see me next time you’re visiting Paris, though. We’ll get that cup of coffee.”  
He put his hand on her arm, looking into her eyes, hoping somehow to see the look he had when they were married, that look of trust and familiarity. Unfortunately, all he saw was hurt. Hurt he knew he had caused. “Betty, wait. It can’t end like this. I think you called me for a reason last night.”  
She smiled, somewhat sadly, “Daniel, it wasn’t me. It was Shannon. She was just being efficient. I’m sorry if you got the wrong idea. Do you need closure, is that it? Because if you do, you’ve got it. Yes, you hurt me back then. I cried the whole way to London and for days afterwards.  
But, then, when I never heard from you, I figured it was just you, overreacting. Obviously, you didn’t really love me. Not like that. You were just going to miss a good friend.  
After I left, since you didn’t ever contact me, I eventually moved on. You should, too, Daniel. It’s fine. It was a long time ago. I’m fine, now.”  
He could see the pain in her eyes. But there was a strength and steeliness he had never seen. A toughness that he knew she must have had to develop over the years since they parted ways.  
It bothered him to see her without the soft, gentle smile he had become accustomed to waking up to. She was beautiful, perhaps even more so now, but more business-like and seemed not to have the warmth in her eyes that ‘his Betty’ did. He nodded, defeated and unable to think of a reason for her to stay at the moment.  
“Okay, Betty. You’re right. I can see you’re busy. It was nice seeing you again. Good luck in Paris.”  



	13. Back to the Beginning

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> So, I found all the chapters for this little tribute to one of my all-time favorite plays on It's a Wonderful Life/A Christmas Carol, The Family Man. I hope you enjoy it!

Daniel sped off in his Ferrari, trying to keep it together, and pretend his heart wasn’t breaking. He got a call from Amanda, “Daniel, are you done trimming Betty’s tree yet? The natives are getting a little restless here, waiting to go open their own presents.”  
“I’ll be right there. I’m just around the corner.” He steeled himself as he entered the building, not even stopping to notice the ‘Meade’ name on the building, just as it had always been.  
He walked past the security guard who had thrown him out in his ‘other life’ and turned to say, “Go home to your family. It’s Christmas. We’re closing the building. I’m just going to go tell my staff.”  
The man smiled and quickly gathered his things, leaving before Daniel changed his mind. “Thanks, Mr. Meade. Merry Christmas!”  
“You, too.” He sighed, as the elevator quickly rose to the twenty-eighth floor. He stepped off and saw a large group of staff from Mode gathered at the conference table.  
“Daniel, we’ve had a bit of an upset. We still can’t find what that idiot photographer did with our proofs and we had to rush, so I know you’re not going to be happy with what we’ve got. I’m not happy with it, really, but…we got so tired last night.”  
He looked at her, “Wilhelmina, go home to Connor and your kids. You’ve given your whole life to this magazine. I can handle it. That goes for the rest of you. You have families. It’s Christmas.  
You should be with them, not here. I’m the head of this company. I’ll deal with whatever crisis there is by myself. It’s my problem, not yours. Go home, all of you. Merry Christmas!”  
Everyone looked around at each other at first, somewhat confused. But they all started leaving. Wilhelmina went up to Daniel and smiled, “Thank you, Daniel. This means a lot to me. I appreciate it.”  
He shook his head, “I’m sure you’d do the same for me. IF I had a family. Tell Connor he’s a lucky guy. I’m happy for you both, Willi. Merry Christmas.”  
“Merry Christmas, Daniel.” She smiled and somewhat hesitantly hugged him, then left.  
Amanda was staring, in shock. He looked at her, “What?”  
She shook, “I should go get Marc and tell him the world just ended. You and Wilhelmina…hugging? And wishing each other a heartfelt Merry Christmas?  
What gives? Ooh, did you and Betty finally chase each other around the Christmas tree or something? What happened? Did you unwrap her?”  
He sat, in his chair, dejected, and completely hopeless, staring straight ahead, with his hands grasped in front of him, “Nothing happened, Amanda.  
I got a gun pulled on me uh, “last night” when I was buying egg nog to pour on a woman whose name I couldn’t even remember and I went home, alone, had the best dream I’ve ever had in my life, then I woke up alone, again. This morning, I got my hopes up and tried to talk to Betty, but…she hates me now.  
The only woman I’ve ever truly loved other than Molly and I screwed it up so badly she could barely even look me in the eye. It just dawned on me; I’m going to die alone. Nobody’s going to care if it says Meade on the top of that building or not.  
I mean, “he looked at her swollen belly, “I guess, since Tyler is pretty much decided he’s going to change his name, you guys can carry on the ‘legacy’ my dad started. But, it sure won’t come from me. You know, when I thought DJ was my son, I really wanted a family, did I ever tell you that, Amanda?”  
She nodded, “Occasionally. Usually when you were drunk. Or depressed, like now. Or both, I guess. So, Betty wasn’t buying your sad little tale of why you let her go, huh?  
Thinking you were doing her some huge favor? Sacrificing your own happiness so she wouldn’t throw away her big chance?”  
He shrugged, “I didn’t really tell her that. I could see it in her eyes. She doesn’t trust me anymore. She looked at me like I was almost a stranger.  
All the…hope and love I saw in her eyes in my dream was just…gone. Not that I blame her. I did that to her. By cutting her out of my life, letting her go, thinking it was for HER own good.”  
“So, she never met anyone else, either, I take it?”  
He shook his head, “No, she said she works too much.”  
She handed him his tickets, “Yeah, like someone else I know. Sorry, Daniel. Here’s your itinerary for Aspen. You’re on flight four eighteen. It leaves at five. Gate twenty-nine.”  
He nodded, still feeling numb, “Thanks.”  
She stood at the door, ready to leave, “So, what are you going to do?”  
He took a deep breath, still obviously depressed, “What am I going to do? I’m going to get cleaned up, pack a bag, and go to the airport to convince Bob Hartman that we’re the best thing since sliced bread while his wife and kids play in the snow.  
Then, I’m going to ski for a few hours, and go to bed alone. Utterly and completely alone. Because that’s what’s real. That’s my life. It’s the path I’ve chosen and there’s not one damn thing I can do about it.”  
She shook her head, “You’re not dead, Daniel. You can always change the path you’re on, if you don’t like where it’s taking you, you know. Things change. People change. Look at you and Wilhelmina, hugging on Christmas, like a Hallmark card. It’s a miracle!” She smiled and left.  
He spun around in his chair, and took out the bracelet and perfume bottle Betty had given him back.  
He looked at them, flashing back to so many times he had been depressed, ready to give up on something and Betty had given him one of her famous ‘pep talks’ and convinced him to take heart and try again.  
He got up, and hurried to JFK, screeching up to leaving the parking attendant yelling after him, “Hey, mister! You can’t leave that here!”  
Daniel ignored him, and ran to the terminal, looking for the Air France check in point, knowing full well that she always arrived early, so she would have plenty of time.  
Sure enough, he spotted her on line with her matching luggage and he yelled, “Betty!”  
She was still too far away to see or hear him, though. He started singing, loudly, “They say we’re young and we don't know  
We won't find out until we grow  
Well I don't know if all that's true  
'Cause you got me, and baby I got you  
Babe...I got you, babe. i got you, babe. They say our love won't pay the rent  
Before it's earned, our money's all been spent  
I guess that's so, we don't have a lot  
But at least I'm sure of all the things we got  
Babe, I got you, babe, I got you, Babe... Several people turned to see Daniel singing, including Betty. He continued,   
I got flowers in the spring  
I got you to wear my ring

She looked shocked to see him approaching her, “Daniel, what are you doing? Are you crazy?”  
He was still far enough away that he had to almost yell, “We have two kids, Betty. Rosa Claire Meade and Jeremy Alexander. And we live in a four bedroom house in Queens to be close to your dad when he got sick. 

Rosie’s four and she tries real hard to dance ballet, but she’s like her mom and she falls a lot. She’s adorable, though, Betty. She’s fearless, like you, and rides her tricycle like it’s a race car. She has my eyes, but your hair and pretty face and your great heart. She’s calm and smart, and funny.”  
He started to choke up, remembering his times with his daughter, but continued as he kept walking towards Betty, who was confused but curious to hear what he had to say, 

“And little Jeremy, just turned one. He doesn’t say much yet, but he’s always looking around and watching us. We just know…when we see him get this look on his face, he’s learning something new. They’re a miracle, Betty.

And you’re the best mom I’ve ever seen. You’re so strong and supportive; you didn’t leave me when I lost my fortune, or when I was gone all the time, trying to get it back. 

You stuck by me, through thick and thin. And we both run a non-profit shelter for homeless people, mostly battered wives, and kids. We’ve helped a lot of people. Good people. People who just needed a little encouragement and one of your great pep talks. 

I love working there, and not wearing designer clothes, and having to drive a crappy mini- van, none of that matters, because you made me a better man, just being around you. 

And we’re in love, Betty. After five years, we’re still crazy in love with each other. You won’t even let me touch you unless I tell you.” He was next to her now, holding her arms, and staring into her eyes. 

She looked at him, “Daniel…what are you talking about?”

“I don’t know, Betty. Maybe it was all just a dream last night, and I know we could both walk away again, like I let you before, and we’d both survive, because we’re strong. Or at least, you would. I'd probably die alone, and unhappy, actually.

But, honey, I’ve seen how great we can be together, how amazing our life could be, and NOTHING has ever felt so real, so right to me before.  
I love you, and I was crazy to let you leave five years ago. I’ve done nothing but regret it ever since. I thought I was doing you a favor, letting you follow your dream. I didn’t want to hold you back. But I was wrong. We’re both so much better together, Betty. We were so happy." He had tears in his eyes as he got closer.

"I don’t know what the future looks like, but all I know is, if you stay, we can be a great team again. Together, our future is better, no matter what we do, Betty. 

Nothing else matters. Not the money; or where we live. If you don’t want to stay here, I’ll move to Paris with you and learn French. I don’t care about my business as much as I care about us. Because I’ve seen what we can accomplish together, and I choose us, this time. Like I should have all along.  
Come on, Betty. Please just stay and let’s talk. At least, come have that cup of coffee with me and let me tell you about our kids. You can always go to Paris.”

She saw the desperation and sincerity in his expression, but shook her head, smiling, and biting her lower lip, “Daniel…you sang to me? In JFK? You must be nuts!”

He smiled, taking her hands in his, “I know. You made me this way. Please, come and talk to me. Let me tell you about my dream, okay?” She hesitated, and he looked around, smiling, “I’ll do it again, Betty. I’ll keep singing until you agree.”

She laughed, “Okay, Daniel. Let’s go talk. But you owe me dinner, not just coffee.”

He took her luggage for her, “We can take my Ferrari. Unless, it got towed. Which it probably did. Maybe we could catch a cab.”

She looked at him, “We could just eat here at the airport.”

He shook his head, pulling her with him, and holding her hand tightly, “Nope, I’m getting you OUT of this airport, just in case. Maybe we could go back to mid-town and sing karaoke at that pizza place. Or, I don't know; we could go home to Queens!”

She looked at him, shocked, but laughed, slipping her arm through his, “You want to go to Queens? You really ARE crazy, Daniel!”


End file.
